Annals of internal medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
An evaluation of D-dimer in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism: a randomized trial.
It may be safe to omit additional diagnostic testing in selected patients with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE) who have a negative D-dimer test, but this approach has never been evaluated in a randomized, controlled trial. ⋯ In patients with a low probability of PE who have negative D-dimer results, additional diagnostic testing can be withheld without increasing the frequency of VTE during follow-up. Low clinical probability and negative D-dimer results occur in 50% of outpatients and in 20% of inpatients with suspected PE.