CT pulmonary angiography utilization in the emergency department: diagnostic yield and adherence to current guidelines.

The aim is to investigate the patterns of computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) use and adherence to current guidelines. Medical records of patients investigated with CTPA for pulmonary embolism (PE) in a single academic hospital from January 2011 until December 2012 were reviewed. Wells scores were calculated retrospectively by researchers blinded to the results of the CTPA. "Avoidable imaging" was defined as imaging performed against current recommendations of the European Society of Cardiology or the PIOPED investigation group. A total of 646 patients underwent testing; 61 cases of PE were diagnosed (9.4%). Potentially avoidable imaging was performed in 49.5% and 71.5% of patients, depending on the criteria used; 11.5% of imaging studies were performed in low-risk patients with negative D-dimer assays. There is evidence of CTPA overuse and D-dimer underuse. Adherence to guidelines and appropriate use of D-dimer assay might reduce avoidable imaging and ionizing radiation exposure.

Incidental findings on computed tomography angiography in patients evaluated for pulmonary embolism.

RATIONALE: To investigate how often computed tomography (CT) pulmonary angiography contributes to establishing a diagnosis in patients presenting to the emergency department and how it performs compared to chest radiograph. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to measure the ability to identify a diagnosis and to investigate the prevalence and significance of incidental findings in patients evaluated with computed tomography pulmonary angiography in the emergency department. METHODS: All adult patients evaluated with CT angiography over a 2-year period (January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2012) were included in the analysis. A total of 641 records were identified. Chest radiographs and CT angiography reports were reviewed to determine whether they could provide a diagnosis in patients without pulmonary embolism (PE). Studies negative for PE were stratified into three categories according to significance: type I prompted immediate action, type II required follow up, and type III had findings of limited significance. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: CT angiography identified a diagnosis in 22.46% of the patient population and in 14.31% of patients without PE. In patients who had CT angiography with chest radiograph, diagnoses were provided in 14.01 and 9.86% of patients, respectively. When analysis was isolated to patients with low probability for PE, CT angiography provided a diagnosis in 20% and chest radiography in 10.23% of patients. The majority of missed cases represented infiltrates too small to be detected by radiography and were believed to represent lung infections by the interpreting radiologist. Among studies negative for PE, 15% were type I, 17.07% were type II, 48.1% were type III, and the rest were normal. CONCLUSIONS: CT angiography is superior to chest radiography at providing a diagnosis in patients investigated for PE, even when no PE is present. However, in patients at low risk for PE, the clinical benefit of the additional diagnoses is questionable.