Why the study?
Are prearrest clinical factors (dyspnea, altered mental status/syncope, shock index >0.8) associated with outpatient fatal massive pulmonary embolism compared to sudden death from other causes?
Population
384 patients with nontraumatic death, aged 18-65 years, transported to an emergency department, with…
Design
Case-control
Authors
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The prearrest triad was associated with fatal outpatient MPE; hypothesis-generating pending prospective validation.
Are prearrest clinical factors (dyspnea, altered mental status/syncope, shock index >0.8) associated with outpatient fatal massive pulmonary embolism compared to sudden death from other causes?
Fatal massive pulmonary embolism in outpatients is strongly associated with a prearrest clinical triad of dyspnea, altered mental status or syncope, and a shock index >0.8.
Courtney et al. (2001) studied this question.