血浆D-二聚体对疑似肺栓塞患者诊断价值的研究

目的：探讨血浆 D-二聚体对对疑似肺栓塞患者的诊断价值。方法采用自动化免疫比浊法测定患者血浆D-二聚体水平。统计分析血浆D-二聚体诊断肺栓塞的敏感性、特异性、阴性及阳性预测值,并绘制ROC曲线以评价其诊断价值并对D-二聚体阴性排除肺栓塞价值进行分析。结果在317例疑似肺栓塞患者中D-二聚体＜500μg/L的患者73例,其中6例被诊断为肺栓塞。D-二聚体对肺栓塞的诊断的敏感性为95.86%（95%CI：91.27%～98.08%）,特异性为38.95%（95%CI：31.98%～41.41%）,阴性预测值为91.78%（95%CI：83.21%～96.18%）,阳性预测值为56.97%（95%CI：50.69%～63.02%）,诊断准确性为64.98%（95%CI：59.58%～70.03%）。ROC曲线下面积为0.674（95%CI：0.615～0.733）。结论 D-二聚体对肺栓塞的诊断具有较高的敏感性,阴性排除肺栓塞的准确性较高,但仍可受患者年龄、测试方法等的影响。     

Diagnostic variability in suspected pulmonary embolism

Over a 12-month period, we observed adult patients with suspected pulmonary embolism referred for lung scanning to determine variability in the diagnostic process. Among 269 studies, 157 lung scans were judged necessary by predetermined criteria. Ninety-three of these 157 patients had inconclusive results (low probability, intermediate probability, or indeterminate). Of these 93 patients, 42 had pulmonary angiograms, ten of which were positive. Of the 51 patients with necessary but inconclusive scans, five were poor candidates for angiography, 15 had other indications for anticoagulation, seven refused the study, and 24 had physicians who considered further studies unwarranted. Patients with and without pulmonary angiography were demographically and clinically similar. Although confirmatory testing such as pulmonary angiography was used frequently (45%) after an inconclusive lung scan, the question of pulmonary embolism was often left unanswered (55%). Methods for linking clinical judgment to lung scan results are necessary to select proper patients for invasive confirmatory testing.     

Diagnostic management of clinically suspected acute pulmonary embolism

Summary.  Current diagnostic management of hemodynamically stable patients with clinically suspected acute pulmonary embolism (PE) consists of the accurate and rapid distinction between the approximate 20–25% of patients who have acute PE and require anticoagulant treatment, and the overall majority of patients who do not have the disease in question. Clinical outcome studies have demonstrated that, using algorithms with sequential diagnostic tests, PE can be safely ruled out in patients with a clinical probability indicating PE to be unlikely and a normal D-dimer test result. This obviates the need for additional radiological imaging tests in 20–40% of patients. CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) has become the first line tool to confirm or exclude the diagnosis of PE in patients with a likely probability of PE or an elevated D-dimer blood concentration. While single-row-detector technology CTPA has a low sensitivity for PE and bilateral compression ultrasound (CUS) of the lower limbs is considered necessary to rule out PE, multi-row-detector CTPA is safe to exclude PE without the confirmatory use of CUS.     

D-Dimer test in cancer patients with suspected acute pulmonary embolism

BACKGROUND: The safety of a D-dimer (DD) measurement in cancer patients with clinically suspected pulmonary embolism (PE) is unclear. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of the DD test in consecutive patients with clinically suspected PE with and without cancer. METHODS: The diagnostic accuracy of DD (Tinaquant D-dimer) was first retrospectively assessed in an unselected group of patients referred for suspected PE (n = 350). Subsequently, the predictive value of the DD was validated in a group of consecutive inpatients and outpatients with clinically suspected PE prospectively enrolled in a management study (n = 519). The results of the DD test in cancer patients were assessed according to the final diagnosis of PE and the 3-month clinical follow-up. RESULTS: In the first study group, DD showed a sensitivity and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 100% and 100% in patients with cancer and 97% and 98% in those without malignancy, respectively. In the validation cohort, the sensitivity and NPV of DD were both 100% (95% CI 82%-100% and 72%-100%, respectively), whereas in patients without malignancy, the corresponding estimates were 93% (95% CI 87%-98%) and 97% (95% CI, 95%-99%), respectively. The specificity of DD was low in patients with (21%) and without cancer (53%). CONCLUSIONS: A negative DD result safely excludes the diagnosis of PE in patients with cancer. Because of the low specificity, when testing 100 patients with suspected PE, a normal DD concentration safely excludes PE in 15 patients with cancer and in 43 patients without cancer.     

超声心动图前列腺素E1试验诊断急性肺动脉栓塞的研究

目的探讨超声心动图评价前列腺素E1（PGE1）试验在急性肺动脉栓塞（APE）诊断中的应用价值。方法采用经胸超声心动图（TTE）检查泰安市中心医院2006年7月至2008年2月疑诊APE患者,顺序选取符合肺动脉高压、三尖瓣反流、疑诊APE的患者56例,TTE观测记录静脉注射PGE,前、即刻、5min、10min、30min时点患者肺动脉收缩压（PASP）数值,以静脉注射PGE,前PASP作为基线,注射后四个时点中任何一点PASP较基线下降幅度〈5mmHg为阳性。PASP较基线下降幅度1〉5mmHg为阴性。以螺旋CT肺动脉造影和（或）核素肺灌注扫描检查为诊断标准,通过ROC曲线评价TTE PGE1试验诊断APE敏感性、特异性。结果56例疑诊APE患者中检出APE患者36例（APE组）,非PE患者20例（NPE组）。注射即刻、5min、10min、30min时,该试验诊断APE的敏感性、特异性分别为77．8％、10．0％,72．2％、30．0％,88．9％、30．0％,88．9％、60．0％。结论1TTE PGE1试验是一种安全、方便、敏感性高的筛查诊断APE的方法。应用PGE,静脉注射30min时超声心动图试验筛查APE具有一定的可行性。     

Clinical probability and risk analysis of patients with suspected pulmonary embolism

BACKGROUND:

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is one of the most frequent diseases that could be missed in overcrowded emergency departments as in Turkey. Early and accurate diagnosis could decrease the mortality rate and this standard algorithm should be defined. This study is to find the accurate, fast, non-invasive, cost-effective, easy-to-access diagnostic tests, clinical scoring systems and the patients who should be tested for clinical diagnosis of PE in emergency department.

METHODS:

One hundred and forty patients admitted to the emergency department with the final diagnosis of PE regarding to anamnesis, physical examination and risk factors, were included in this prospective, cross-sectional study. The patients with a diagnosis of pulmonary embolism, acute coronary syndrome or infection and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were excluded from the study. The demographics, risk factors, radiological findings, vital signs, symptoms, physical-laboratory findings, diagnostic tests and clinical scoring systems of patients (Wells and Geneva) were noted. The diagnostic criteria for pulmonary emboli were: filling defect in the pulmonary artery lumen on spiral computed tomographic angiography and perfusion defect on perfusion scintigraphy.

RESULTS:

Totally, 90 (64%) of the patients had PE. Age, hypotension, having deep vein thrombosis were the risk factors, and oxygen saturation, shock index, BNP, troponin and fibrinogen levels as for the biochemical parameters were significantly different between the PE (+) and PE (−) groups (P<0.05). The Wells scoring system was more successful than the other scoring systems.

CONCLUSION:

Biochemical parameters, clinical findings, and scoring systems, when used altogether, can contribute to the diagnosis of PE.KEY WORDS: Pulmonary embolism, Probability, Emergency department     

Complete venous ultrasound in outpatients with suspected pulmonary embolism

Summary.  Background: Compression ultrasonography (US) confined to the proximal veins is usually performed to detect deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in patients with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE). Recent studies suggested a limited yield of proximal US when multislice computed tomography (MSCT) was used. Objectives: To assess whether performing an additional distal vein US would increase the diagnostic yield of the test. Patients and methods: Data of 855 consecutive outpatients included in a multicenter randomized controlled trial were analyzed. Patients were investigated by a sequential diagnostic strategy including clinical probability assessment, D-dimer measurement, proximal US and MSCT. Proximal US was completed by an examination of the distal veins, the result of which was not disclosed to the physician in charge of the patient. Results: US was positive in 21% of patients, of whom 10% (53/541) had proximal DVT and 11% (59/541) isolated distal DVT. Of the 59 patients with distal DVT, 21 (36%) had no PE on MSCT. Twenty of those 21 patients were not given anticoagulant therapy and had an uneventful follow-up. The diagnostic performance of distal US for the diagnosis of PE was as follows: sensitivity 22% [95% confidence interval (CI) 17–29]; specificity 94% (95% CI  91–96); positive likelihood ratio 3.9 (95% CI  2.4–6.4). Conclusions: In patients with suspected PE, distal US has limited diagnostic performance, and its additional use only modestly increases the yield of US. Moreover, it carries a high false-positive rate, impeding the use of distal US as a confirmatory test for PE.     

Pulmonary scintigraphy at the bedside in intensive care patients with suspected pulmonary embolism

Objective Performance of pulmonary scintigraphy (PS) for suspected pulmonary embolism (PE) in ICU patients normally involves the added risk of transporting unstable patients to the nuclear medicine unit (NMU) and poses technical difficulties in ventilating intubated patients. This retrospective study addresses the feasibility of performing PS as the bedside.Material and methods During a 2-year period, all ICU patients with suspected PE underwent PS at the bedside, performed with a mobile gamma-camera.^99mTc-labelled albumin macroaggregates were used for the perfusion studies. Gasified^99mTc or^81mKr gas was administered by an adapting technique in intubated patients.Results 45 patients were studied, 29 (64%) of whom were intubated and 21 (47%) of whom were in shock. PE was confirmed or excluded by PS in 49% of patients. Angiography was performed in 4 patients (8%). In the rest, a combination of low clinical and low or very low PS probabilities rendered PE highly unlikely. There was no evidence of PE in the subsequent follow-up.Conclusions In ICU patients with suspected PE, PS can be performed at the bedside with a mobile gamma-camera. The risk of transporting unstable patients can thus be avoided.     

Best evidence topic report. Diagnostic utility of electrocardiogram for diagnosing pulmonary embolism

A shortcut review was carried out to establish the diagnostic utility of electrocardiography in patients with suspected pulmonary embolus (PE). Altogether 952 papers were found using the reported search, of which five presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date, and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results, and study weaknesses of these best papers are tabulated (table 1). It is concluded that although there are electrocardiogram (ECG) changes that are more common in PE, the ECG alone is not sufficiently sensitive or specific to rule out or rule in the diagnosis.     

Detection of central pulmonary artery thromboemboli by transesophageal echocardiography in patients with severe pulmonary embolism.

Transthoracic echocardiography generally provides only indirect signs of pulmonary embolism. In contrast, with transesophageal echocardiography the thromboembolus itself can be visualized in the central parts of the pulmonary artery. The aims of our study were to evaluate, first, the incidence of central pulmonary artery thromboemboli in patients with severe pulmonary embolism, and second, the accuracy of the echocardiographic diagnosis. Our study group comprised 60 patients with proved severe pulmonary embolism. All patients were examined by transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography. The echocardiographic findings concerning the absence or presence of central pulmonary artery thromboemboli were compared with the results of different reference methods. Central pulmonary thromboemboli were found in 35 patients (58.3%) by echocardiography. Two types of thrombus were differentiated. Type A is a long, highly mobile thrombus, and type B is an immobile wall-adherent thrombus. In comparison with the reference methods, we determined a sensitivity of 96.7% and a specificity of 88% for the echocardiographic detection of central pulmonary artery thromboemboli in patients with severe pulmonary embolism. Transesophageal echocardiography seems to be a useful method for the diagnosis of severe pulmonary embolism. In our series, central pulmonary artery thromboemboli were present in more than half of the patients. In these cases, transesophageal echocardiography can clarify the diagnosis within a few minutes without further invasive diagnostic procedures.     

Comprehensive evaluation of CT pulmonary angiography for patients suspected of having pulmonary embolism

Many apparent healthy persons die from cardiovascular disease, despite major advances in prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Traditional cardiovascular risk factors are able to predict cardiovascular events in the long run, but fail to assess current disease activity or nearby cardiovascular events. There is a clear relation between the occurrence of cardiovascular events and the presence of so-called vulnerable plaques. These vulnerable plaques are characterized by active inflammation, a thin cap and a large lipid pool. Spectroscopy is an optical imaging technique which depicts the interaction between light and tissues, and thereby shows the biochemical composition of tissues. In recent years, impressive advances have been made in spectroscopy technology and intravascular spectroscopy is able to assess the composition of plaques of interest and thereby to identify and actually quantify plaque vulnerability. This review summarizes the current evidence for spectroscopy as a measure of plaque vulnerability and discusses the potential role of intravascular spectroscopic imaging techniques.     

超声心动图对肺栓塞诊断价值的研究

目的　探讨经胸超声心动图 (TTE)和经食管超声心动图 (TEE)对肺栓塞的诊断价值。方法　对10例临床疑诊肺栓塞患者进行了TTE和TEE检查 ,并与CT结果对照 ,其中 4例患者进行了治疗后TEE随访。结果　 10例患者右心房内径 (5 7± 9)mm ,右心室内径 (3 4± 5 )mm ,肺动脉收缩压 (91± 19)mmHg(1mmHg=0 .13 3kPa) ,所有患者均有中度 -重度三尖瓣反流。检出右肺动脉内活动性血栓 2例 ,附壁血栓 2例 ,右心室活动性血栓 2例 ,左肺动脉活动性血栓 3例 ,附壁血栓 1例。 10例患者中 4例为左肺动脉或右肺动脉远段血栓 ,由TEE检出。所有结果经CT或手术证实。溶栓加抗凝治疗 3例 ,手术治疗 1例 ,2 0d～ 3个月后随访TEE ,肺动脉内血栓明显缩小或消失 ,肺动脉压力下降。结论　超声心动图技术在检出右心系统和肺动脉内血栓、明确肺栓塞的临床类型、评价肺栓塞的血流动力学改变和随访治疗效果等方面具有重要价值 ;TEE是检出左右肺动脉远段血栓的可靠方法     

D-二聚体检测在胸外科患者术后肺栓塞中的诊断价值

目的探讨D-二聚体检测在胸外科患者术后肺栓塞中的诊断价值。方法回顾性分析2008年-2013年期间我院收治的18 128例胸外科手术治疗患者术后发生肺栓塞的临床资料,并选取其中的35例胸外科手术治疗患者进行D-二聚体检测。结果胸外科手术年龄≧50岁的患者与〈50岁的患者比较,肥胖患者与体重合格者比较,发生恶性肿瘤与良性肿瘤比较,肺栓塞发生率均有显著性差异（P〈0.05）;进行D-二聚体检测诊断肺栓塞的阴性预测值以及敏感性均为100%,假阳性率为94.7%（18/19）。结论行胸外科手术治疗的肥胖、高龄和恶性肿瘤患者术后发生肺栓塞的可能性较大,而采用D-二聚体检测,能够较精确地对肺栓塞进行诊断,阴性结果正确率高,值得临床上进一步推广与研究。     

Diagnostic utility of fecal calprotectin in patients presenting to the emergency department with suspected acute appendicitis

BackgroundAcute appendicitis (AA) is one of the most common diseases faced by the surgeon in the emergency department. In clinical practice, how to diagnose patients with AA accurately is still challenging.MethodsWe conducted a prospective study of 84 patients who presented in the emergency department with suspected AA and measured fecal calprotectin (FC) value. The final diagnosis of AA was independently determined without reference to the test results of FC. Then, we retrospectively analyzed the FC value for identifying AA.ResultsFC value in patients with AA were significantly higher than that in patients without AA (240.5 vs. 68.5 ug/g, P < 0.001). Receiver-operating characteristic analyses demonstrated FC value to be highly sensitive and specific for the diagnosis of AA, as indicated by an overall area under the curve (AUC) of 0.928 (500 times of boot strap estimated 95% CI, 0.855–0.972), with an optimal cut off point of 106 ug/g. FC levels in 26 patients with simple AA were significantly lower than it in the 14 patients with suppurative AA (206 vs. 304ug/g, P = 0.001).ConclusionsFC test provides a sensitive, convenient and economical method to help facilitate the diagnosis of AA in emergency department. Especially for hospitals without computed tomography equipment or patients who are not suitable to exposed to radiation, FC test is of great significance for improving the diagnostic accuracy of AA.     

D-dimer can help differentiate suspected pulmonary embolism patients that require anti-coagulation

ObjectivesDetermine whether D-dimer concentration in the absence of imaging can differentiate patients that require anti-coagulation from patients who do not require anti-coagulation.MethodsData was obtained retrospectively from 366 hemodynamically stable adult ED patients with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE).Patients were categorized by largest occluded artery and aggregated into: ‘Require anti-coagulation’ (main, lobar, and segmental PE), ‘Does not require anti-coagulation’ (sub-segmental and No PE), ‘High risk of deterioration’ (main and lobar PE), and ‘Not high risk of deterioration’ (segmental, sub-segmental, and No PE) groups.Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used for 2 sample comparisons of median D-dimer concentrations. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was utilized to determine a D-dimer cut-off that could differentiate ‘Require anti-coagulation’ from ‘Does not require anti-coagulation’ and ‘High risk of deterioration’ from ‘Low risk of deterioration’ groups.ResultsThe ‘Require anti-coagulation’ group had a maximum area under the curve (AUC) of 0.92 at an age-adjusted D-dimer cut-off of 1540 with a specificity of 86% (95% CI, 81–91%), and sensitivity of 84% (79–90%). The ‘High risk of deterioration’ group had a maximum AUC of 0.93 at an age-adjusted D-dimer cut-off of 2500 with a specificity of 90% (85–93%) and sensitivity of 83% (77–90%).ConclusionsAn age-adjusted D-dimer cut-off of 1540 ng/mL differentiates suspected PE patients requiring anti-coagulation from those not requiring anti-coagulation. A cut-off of 2500 differentiates those with high risk of clinical deterioration from those not at high risk of deterioration. When correlated with clinical outcomes, these cut-offs can provide an objective method for clinical decision making when imaging is unavailable.