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BACKGROUND Preventing pulmonary embolism is a priority after major musculoskeletal surgery. The literature contains discrepant data regarding the influence of anticoagulation on the incidence of pulmonary embolism after joint arthroplasty. The American College of Chest Physicians guidelines recommend administration of oral anticoagulants (warfarin), aiming for an international normalized ratio ...

Current guidelines state that patients over 40 years of age with a first unprovoked pulmonary embolism should be offered limited screening for possible cancer and considered for intensive screening (abdomino-pelvic computed tomography and mammography), despite no evidence for the latter. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical utility and cost of intensive screening in routine clinic...

BACKGROUND The cause of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is often difficult to determine. Pulmonary embolism may be a trigger of acute dyspnoea in patients with COPD. AIM To determine the prevalence of pulmonary embolism in patients with acute exacerbation of COPD. METHODS 123 consecutive patients admitted to the emergency departments of two academic teachi...

Reports of the autopsy incidence of pulmonary embolism in non-surgical general hospital patients’ especially those with coronary heart disease23 have resulted in increasing use of anticoagulant therapy in “medical” patients. The autopsy incidence of pulmonary embolism in patients dying with active tuberculosis has not been stressed in comparable fashion. In a previous report4 I have discussed t...

OBJECTIVES To assess the likelihood ratios of diagnostic strategies for pulmonary embolism and to determine their clinical application according to pretest probability. DATA SOURCES Medline, Embase, and Pascal Biomed and manual search for articles published from January 1990 to September 2003. STUDY SELECTION Studies that evaluated diagnostic tests for confirmation or exclusion of pulmonary...

PURPOSE To evaluate a diagnostic strategy for pulmonary embolism that combined clinical assessment, plasma D-dimer measurement, lower limb venous ultrasonography, and helical computed tomography (CT). METHODS A cohort of 965 consecutive patients presenting to the emergency departments of three general and teaching hospitals with clinically suspected pulmonary embolism underwent sequential non...

BACKGROUND Randomized trials and meta-analyses have reached conflicting conclusions regarding the risk benefit ratio of thrombolytic therapy or anticoagulant therapy in patients with moderate pulmonary embolism. To investigate the effect of initial thrombolysis and anticoagulant therapy in patients with moderate pulmonary embolism, we performed an updated meta-analysis. METHODS We searched th...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major health burden and expected to become the third leading cause of death by 2030 [1, 2]. Acute exacerbations with aggravation of respiratory symptoms are associated with an acceleration of progressive lung function decline and significant worsening of prognosis (in-hospital mortality rate, 10%; 3-year mortality rate, 49%) [2]. Management of p...

In recent years, the validity of embolism quantification methods has been questioned, especially for long-vesseled plants. Some studies have suggested that cutting xylem while under tension, even under water, might generate artificial cavitation. Accordingly, a rehydration procedure prior to hydraulic measurements has been recommended to avoid this artefact. On the other hand, concerns have bee...