Helical computed tomography for diagnosing pulmonary embolism.

Abstract

Letters19 September 2000Helical Computed Tomography for Diagnosing Pulmonary EmbolismJohn R. Mayo, MD, Elisabeth M. Baile, MSc, and Peter D. Pare, MDJohn R. Mayo, MDVancouver General Hospital; Vancouver, British Columbia V5Z 1N9, Canada (Mayo)St. Paul's Hospital; Vancouver, British Columbia V6Z 1Y6, Canada (Baile, Pare)Search for more papers by this author, Elisabeth M. Baile, MScVancouver General Hospital; Vancouver, British Columbia V5Z 1N9, Canada (Mayo)St. Paul's Hospital; Vancouver, British Columbia V6Z 1Y6, Canada (Baile, Pare)Search for more papers by this author, and Peter D. Pare, MDVancouver General Hospital; Vancouver, British Columbia V5Z 1N9, Canada (Mayo)St. Paul's Hospital; Vancouver, British Columbia V6Z 1Y6, Canada (Baile, Pare)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-133-6-200009190-00025 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:In their extensive review evaluating helical computed tomography (CT) for the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism, Rathbun and colleagues (1) conclude that CT has not yet been adequately evaluated and that definitive, large, prospective studies are needed to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity, and safety of CT for diagnosing this condition.We suggest that such a study is unnecessary and would be practically impossible. In a recent study (2) of a porcine model of pulmonary embolism in which a methacrylate cast of the pulmonary vasculature was used as an independent gold standard, we reported that CT is comparable to ...