title: Trends in the use of diagnostic imaging in patients hospitalized with acute pulmonary embolism.
abstract: From 1979 to 2001, the proportion of imaging tests by computed tomography (CT), ventilation perfusion (VQ) lung scan, pulmonary angiography, and venous ultrasound was assessed in patients with pulmonary embolism (PE) from the National Hospital Discharge Survey. By 2001, there was a higher proportion of imaging tests with CT than VQ scans (36% vs 32%). Even so, in the United States, a large proportion of patients continued to have VQ scans.
authors.affiliation: St. Joseph Mercy-Oakland Hospital, 44555 Woodward Avenue, Suirte 107, Pontiac, MI 48341-2985, USA. steinp@trinity-health.org
authors.forename: Paul D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Stein
authors.forename: Fadi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kayali
authors.forename: Ronald E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Olson
mesh_terms: D000792:Angiography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States