Background
Pulmonary
embolism which is an mysterious and difficult disease to diagnose is the third
most common cause of death from cardiovascular disease. Despite recent clinical
studies and technological development, pulmonary embolism diagnosing is hard
and complicated. Diagnosis of pulmonary embolism starts with physcians
suspicion. Firstly, assessment of clinical pre-test probability is important. Clinical
pre-test probability is based on assessment of whether symptoms and signs are
typical for pulmonary embolism. Geneva score and Wells score are most known pre-tests. The
revised Geneva score, a standardized clinical decision rule in the diagnosis of
pulmonary embolism (PE). The Wells score is widely used for the assessment of
pretest probability of pulmonary embolism (PE). The revised Geneva score is a
fully standardized clinical decision rule. We compared the predictive accuracy
of these two pre-test probabilities.
Methods:
In 119 consecutive
patients, the clinical probability of PE was assessed prospectively by the
Wells rule and retrospectively using the revised Geneva score. Patients
comprised a random sample from a single center, participating in a large
prospective multicenter diagnostic study.
Results:
The
overall prevalence of PE was 31%. The prevalence of PE in the low-probability,
intermediate-probability and high-probability categories are grouped by the revised
Geneva score. After three months of
followup, any patient categorised into the low or intermediate clinical
probability category by the revised Geneva score. Normal D-dimer result was
diagnosed with acute venous thromboembolism. When we compare Geneva and Wells
scores, their predictive values were similar for PE group. Predictive values of
Geneva scores for PE and non-PE were not importantly different (p=0.169), but
Wells scores were importantly higher for PE group (p=0.006).
Conclusions:
This
study recommends that the performance of the revised Geneva score is equal to
that of the Wells score. In addition, it appears safe to exclude PE in patients
by the combination of a low or intermediate clinical probability by the revised
Geneva score and a normal D-dimer. Determining clinical probability is the main
step for diagnosis. High D-dimer value is important for clinical suspicion, but
low values can’t eliminate the diagnosis. Also we showed that Wells score’s
predictive value was higher than Genova score but predictions of mortality were
similar. Both clinical risk classification and laboratory results must be
evaluated together with Genova score in
suspected PE cases. In our population, the Wells score appeared to be more
accurate than the simplified revised Geneva score. Patient outcomes should be examined in
a prospective study.
Bölüm | Makale |
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Yazarlar | |
Yayımlanma Tarihi | 22 Mayıs 2017 |
Yayımlandığı Sayı | Yıl 2017 Cilt: 2 Sayı: 1 |