Fortnightly review : the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism

Currently, clinicians have to make decisions about how to manage pulmonary embolism on the basis of imperfect tests and assessment of odds. Management protocols that inevitably result in large numbers of patients being referred for angiography are unhelpful. Management decisions based on assessment of odds and investigation of leg veins will inevitably result in some patients who have survived a pulmonary embolus being left untreated. Current evidence suggests that for most patients this is probably not important, the clear exception being those patients with underlying cardiorespiratory disease.