Pulmonary Embolism Incidence Is Increasing with Use of Spiral Computed Tomography

Spiral computed tomography for pulmonary embolism.

Spiral computed tomography pulmonary angiography is increasingly used in the non-invasive investigation of patients with suspected pulmonary embolism. This review will focus on current techniques and indications with an explanation of the computed tomography signs of pulmonary embolism, possible pitfalls in interpretation and limitations of the technique.

Spiral computed tomography for acute pulmonary embolism.

There is still considerable debate about the optimal diagnostic imaging modality for acute pulmonary embolism. If imaging is deemed necessary from an initial clinical evaluation such as d-dimer testing, options include nuclear medicine scanning, catheter pulmonary angiography, and spiral CT. In many institutions, spiral CT is becoming established as the first-line imaging test in daily clinical...

Spiral computed tomography for the diagnosis of acute pulmonary embolism.

The accuracy of computed tomography (CT) imaging for the diagnosis of acute pulmonary embolism (PE) was reviewed. Single detector CT, based on pooled data, showed a sensitivity of 73% and multidetector CT, mostly 4-slice, showed a sensitivity of 83%. Respective specificities were 87% and 96%. Among patients with suspected PE evaluated with single slice CT, 20% of patients found to have venous t...

Excluding pulmonary embolism with helical (spiral) computed tomography: Evidence is catching up with enthusiasm.

computed tomography pulmonary angiography for evaluation of patients with suspected pulmonary embolism: use or overuse

conclusion there is still excessive unjustified concern of pte in less trained physicians leading to excessive diagnostic work-up. loyalty to the existing guideline for management of suspected pte in educational hospitals and supervision of attending physicians could prevent overuse of ctpa. results during a 6-month period, 82 patients who underwent ctpa were included. the prevalence of pte was...