Subsegmental pulmonary embolism: value of thoracic ultrasound for diagnosis and follow-up.
Timely diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE) is crucial because prompt appropriate management can decrease mortality and morbidity. However, the diagnosis of PE is often a challenge because of aspecific clinical presentation and the lack of a single non-invasive diagnostic test sufficiently sensitive for the diagnosis in all suspected cases. The present report describes a 37-year-old woman in whom diagnosis of recurrent subsegmental PE was achieved through subtle integration of imaging techniques including thoracic ultrasound (TUS) that was demonstrated to be of valuable usefulness. We think that TUS may represent an adjunctive technique for diagnosing PE.
Mastruzzo
Claudio
C
Department of Internal and Specialistic Medicine, Section of Respiratory Diseases, University of Catania, Italy. claudiomastruzzo@yahoo.it
Perracchio
Guido
G
Poidomani
Grazia
G
Romano
Marcello
M
Crimi
Nunzio
N
Vancheri
Carlo
C
D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000097:blood / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D012008:Recurrence; D014463:Ultrasonography