[Ultrasound in pulmonary embolism: killing three birds with one stone]

Pulmonary embolism remains a great diagnostic challenge. The value of different ultrasound methods is presented in this review. Regarding the accuracy of echocardiography, it shows a sensitivity of 41 - 50 % and a specifity of 90 % for unselected patients with suspicion of PE as a result. On the other hand, the sensitivity of echocardiography in cases of hemodynamic instable patients is very high. In a recent multicenter trial of thoracic ultrasound in diagnosis of pulmonary embolism on 352 patients the sensitivity amounts to 74 %, the specifity to 95 %, the positive predictive value to 95 %, negative predictive value to 75 % and accuracy to 84 %. Colour Doppler sonography with compression is a save modality ensuring the source of embolism in deep vein thrombosis. With suspicion of deep vein thrombosis the median sensitivity made up 95 % (38 - 100 %) and median specifity was 97 % (81 - 100 %). The combination of chest sonography, echocardiography and compression sonography of leg vein thrombosis enhances the sensitivity of sonography to 92 %, while this accuracy can not be reached with any other method.