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https://doi.org/10.1136/emj.2010.097733

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    Use of bedside echocardiography for the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism in the emergency department

    Report by: Janos Peter Baombe, Speciality Emergency Trainee

    Checked by: Dan Horner, Specialist Registrar

    Institution: Manchester Royal Infirmary, Manchester, UK

    Three-part question

    (In a previously fit and well patient presenting with clinical suspicion of pulmonary embolism) is (bedside transthoracic echocardiography compared to pulmonary angiography) specific and sensitive enough as a diagnostic test (to confirm or refute submassive/massive pulmonary embolism (PE))?

    Clinical scenario

    A 33 year-old male is brought into the emergency department with an episode of acute breathlessness following a syncopal episode. His left leg is in a cast and he tells us that he returned from Australia recently where he broke his lower limb during a trek. He is tachycardic, tachypnoic, hypotensive, sweaty and clammy: he is in a peri-arrest situation. You wonder if bedside transthoracic echocardiography could rapidly confirm or exclude your presumed diagnosis and support …

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    Footnotes

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; not externally peer reviewed.