title: New diagnostic tests for pulmonary embolism.
abstract: In 1990, the multicenter Prospective Investigation of Pulmonary Embolism Diagnosis (PIOPED), sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, compared the diagnostic value of the radioisotopic ventilation-perfusion lung scan (V/Q scan) with that of pulmonary angiography for the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE). Despite the endurance of the radioisotopic V/Q scan as the most widely used test for evaluation of pulmonary embolism (PE), a better screening tool is clearly needed for use in the emergency department. During the past decade, several new modalities have emerged for evaluation of patients with suspected PE. We evaluate the diagnostic utility of the D-dimer test and the alveolar dead space determination as potential screening tests and of spiral computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, transthoracic echocardiography, and transesophageal echocardiography as potential confirmatory tests for PE. For comparison, recent data on the diagnostic utility of the alveolar-arterial oxygen gradient and the V/Q scan are included. The potential application of these new tests to a hypothetical ED population is described.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, NC 28232-2861, USA. jkline@carolinas.org
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Kline
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Johns
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Colucciello
authors.forename: E G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Israel
mesh_terms: D000792:Angiography; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004452:Echocardiography; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005338:Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products / Q000032:analysis; D006384:Hemagglutination; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D011659:Pulmonary Gas Exchange; D012106:Research; D012126:Respiratory Dead Space; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014692:Ventilation-Perfusion Ratio
chemical_list: D005338:Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products