Problems of diagnosis of pulmonary embolism

Pulmonary embolism still remains a serious medical problem with a high percentage of mortality, even in developed countries with well organized health system. Diagnosis is based on early and correct evaluation of clinical signs and indicating appropriate diagnostic methods. Invasive pulmonary angiography is more and more frequently replaced by non-invasive CT pulmonary angiography which should be used very carefully. YEARS study authored by Dutch team is also presented in the article. Aim of this study is to identify the group of patients whose pulmonary embolism can be excluded without CT pulmonary angiography, only on the basis od D-dimers level and simple three-items clinical prediction rule of PE. (author)