Derivation and Validation of a 4-Level Clinical Pretest Probability Score for Suspected Pulmonary Embolism to Safely Decrease Imaging Testing

Pulmonary embolism (PE) poses a diagnostic challenge to Emergency Medicine physicians because the signs and symptoms of PE are extremely common and unspecific. Multiple decisions tools have been created to help rule out this diagnosis and curb the overuse of imaging, particularly computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA). Unnecessary CTPA places patients at risk for allergic reaction, renal failure, and long term radiation accumulation related diseases. Despite these efforts, there has been a large increase in the use of imaging to rule out PE.