title: Diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary embolism: a multidisciplinary approach.
abstract: The diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE) is frequently considered in patients presenting to the emergency department or when hospitalized. Although early treatment is highly effective, PE is underdiagnosed and, therefore, the disease remains a major health problem. Since symptoms and signs are non specific and the consequences of anticoagulant treatment are considerable, objective tests to either establish or refute the diagnosis have become a standard of care. Diagnostic strategy should be based on clinical evaluation of the probability of PE. The accuracy of diagnostic tests for PE are high when the results are concordant with the clinical assessment. Additional testing is necessary when the test results are inconsistent with clinical probability. The present review article represents the consensus-based recommendations of the Interdisciplinary Association for Research in Lung Disease (AIMAR) multidisciplinary Task Force for diagnosis and treatment of PE. The aim of this review is to provide clinicians a practical diagnostic and therapeutic management approach using evidence from the literature.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lavorini
authors.forename: Vitantonio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Di Bello
authors.forename: Maria Luisa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: De Rimini
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lucignani
authors.forename: Letizia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marconi
authors.forename: Gualtiero
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Palareti
authors.forename: Raffaele
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pesavento
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Prisco
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Santini
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sverzellati
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Palla
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, Largo Brambilla 3, Florence 50134, Italy. massimo.pistolesi@unifi.it.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pistolesi