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Underuse of risk assessment and overuse of computed tomography pulmonary angiography in patients with suspected pulmonary thromboembolism
Author(s) -
Perera Michael,
Aggarwal Leena,
Scott Ian A.,
Cocks Nicholas
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
internal medicine journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.596
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1445-5994
pISSN - 1444-0903
DOI - 10.1111/imj.13524
Subject(s) - medicine , pulmonary angiography , pulmonary embolism , d dimer , predictive value , computed tomography , radiology , computed tomography angiography , predictive value of tests , retrospective cohort study , pre and post test probability
Background Evidence suggests the potential overuse of computed tomography pulmonary angiography ( CTPA ) in patients with suspected pulmonary thromboembolism ( PTE ) in the absence of consistent use of pre‐test clinical prediction rules and D‐dimer assays. Aim To evaluate use and diagnostic utility of clinical prediction rules and D‐dimer assay in patients with suspected PTE and quantify potentially avoidable overuse of CTPA in low risk patients. Methods A total of 344 consecutive patients undergoing CTPA at a tertiary hospital was studied with regards to the use of D‐dimer assays and clinical prediction rules for PTE . For each patient, a modified Wells score ( mWS ), revised Geneva score and PISA model were calculated retrospectively; performance characteristics for each rule for PTE were determined with reference to results of CTPA . Results for the mWS and D‐dimer assays (when performed) were used to estimate the overuse of CTPA according to risk category. Results Use of a clinical prediction rule was documented in only 5.0% of cases. Of 269 low‐risk patients who had a calculated mWS ≤4, only 64 (23.8%) had a D‐dimer assay performed, with 30 (11.1%) having a PTE on CTPA . Among 75 patients with an mWS >4, 23 (30.7%) had a PTE on CTPA ( P < 0.001). Compared to other prediction rules, an mWS >4 had the highest positive predictive value (31.0%) for PTE ; all rules demonstrated similar negative predictive values for low‐risk scores (87–89%). After adjusting for an 11% false negative rate for PTE in patients with low‐risk mWS , overuse of CTPA was reported in up to 190 (55.2%) patients. Conclusion More than 50% of patients with suspected PTE may be subject to unwarranted use of CTPA in the absence of pre‐test clinical prediction rules coupled with D‐dimer assays.