Current strategies for the diagnosis of pulmonary embolus

Venous thromboembolic disease (VTD), comprising venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolus, is responsible for innumerable deaths every day. Wide variance in its presentation and clinical manifestations and the resultant difficulties in achieving its diagnosis have confounded attempts to define optimal diagnostic and treatment strategies. Those strategies should be predicated on the understanding of the manifestations of VTD and of the attributes and interrelationship of the various modalities available for its diagnosis. This review will present an overview of the literature describing those modalities, their strengths and deficiencies, and their current value in algorithms for the diagnosis of VTD.