Abstract

IntroductionIn the work-up strategy for pulmonary embolism (PE) in the ED, the recently introduced YEARS rule allows the raising of the D-dimer threshold to 1000 ng/ml in patients with no signs of deep venous thrombosis and no hemoptysis and in whom PE is not the most likely diagnosis. However, this decision rule has never been prospectively compared to the usual strategy. Furthermore, it is unclear if the YEARS rule can be used on top of the Pulmonary Embolism Rule-out Criteria (PERC). We aim to assess the non-inferiority of YEARS compared to current guidelines to rule out PE among PERC-positive ED patients with suspicion of PE.Methods/designThe MODIGLIANI study is a multicenter, European, non-inferiority, cluster-randomized, two periods cross-over, controlled trial. Each center will be randomized for the sequence of two 4-month periods: intervention (MOdified Diagnostic Strategy: MODS) followed by control (usual care), or control followed by intervention with 1 month of “wash-out” between the two periods. In the control period, the threshold will be as usual (500 ng/ml for patients aged 50 years or younger and age × 10 for older patients). In the MODS period, the threshold of D-dimers to rule out PE will be raised to 1000 ng/ml if no item of the YEARS score is present or will remain unchanged otherwise. Patients will be included if they have a suspicion of PE, defined as chest pain, dyspnea, or syncope. Non-inclusion criteria comprise a high clinical probability of PE or PERC-negative patients with low clinical probability.Ethics and disseminationThe study has received the following approvals: Comité de protection des personnes Ile de France XI (France) and Comité de Ética de la Investigación con medicamentos del Hospital Clínic de Barcelona (Spain). Results will be made available to all included participants and other researchers.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04032769. Registered on 24 July 2019.

Highlights

  • In the work-up strategy for pulmonary embolism (PE) in the emergency department (ED), the recently introduced YEARS rule allows the raising of the D-dimer threshold to 1000 ng/ml in patients with no signs of deep venous thrombosis and no hemoptysis and in whom PE is not the most likely diagnosis

  • Each center will be randomized for the sequence of two 4-month periods: intervention (MOdified Diagnostic Strategy: modified diagnostic strategy (MODS)) followed by control, or control followed by intervention with 1 month of “wash-out” between the two periods

  • Each center will be randomized for the sequence of the periods: intervention (MOdified Diagnostic Strategy (MODS)) followed by control, or control followed by intervention with 1 month of “wash-out” between the two periods

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Summary

Strengths and limitation of this study

This trial will address the safety of the YEARS rule applied in combination with PERC (i.e., after excluding PERC-negative patients) for the exclusion of pulmonary embolism in the emergency department. This trial will compare and assess the benefits of YEARS compared to the conventional strategy with age-adjusted D-dimers. This trial is a cluster cross-over randomized trial and is not randomized at the patient level

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