Journal article
Role of D-dimer Assays in the Diagnostic Evaluation of Pulmonary Embolism
The American journal of the medical sciences, Vol.350(6), pp.501-507
12/2015
DOI: 10.1097/MAJ.0000000000000405
PMID: 25719981
Abstract
The diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE) remains challenging despite the evolution of well-validated clinical algorithms over the past few decades, largely because of nonspecific clinical features altering clinician suspicion. D-dimer is a simple noninvasive test that is an essential part of the diagnostic algorithm but is often deemed to be of little value in patients who are elderly or have other comorbidities. We describe a case of an elderly man who presented with clinical features and initial imaging consistent with pneumonia and a positive D-dimer test. Adherence to the suggested diagnostic algorithm and obtaining chest imaging, however, prevented what could have been a catastrophic missed diagnosis of PE. We review existing evidence on the importance of suspecting PE in the presence of alternative diagnosis and explore the literature on the association between the magnitude of D-dimer and the diagnosis of PE.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Role of D-dimer Assays in the Diagnostic Evaluation of Pulmonary Embolism
- Creators
- Snigdha Jain - Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IowaRohan Khera - Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IowaManish Suneja - Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IowaBrian Gehlbach - Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Occupational Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IowaEthan Kuperman - Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa
- Contributors
- Fred A Lopez (Editor)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- The American journal of the medical sciences, Vol.350(6), pp.501-507
- Publisher
- Elsevier Inc
- DOI
- 10.1097/MAJ.0000000000000405
- PMID
- 25719981
- ISSN
- 0002-9629
- eISSN
- 1538-2990
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 12/2015
- Academic Unit
- Neurology; Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Occupational Medicine; Nephrology; General Internal Medicine; Health and Human Physiology; Internal Medicine
- Record Identifier
- 9984094557002771
Metrics
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