Saturday, July 29, 2006

A randomized trial of D-dimer testing in suspected pulmonary embolism

This is the first ever randomized controlled study to determine whether a negative D-dimer test can safely obviate additional diagnostic testing in certain patients with suspected PE. The researchers found that in patients with low clinical (pre-test) probability a negative D-dimer excludes PE as effectively as a strategy of nuclear scanning and lower extremity venous ultrasound. Via Annals of Internal Medicine.

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