Rapid quantitative D‐dimer to exclude pulmonary embolism: a prospective cohort management study

Essentials It is not known if D‐dimer testing alone can safely exclude pulmonary embolism (PE). We studied the safety of using a quantitative latex agglutination D‐dimer to exclude PE in 808 patients. 52% of patients with suspected PE had a negative D‐dimer test and were followed for 3 months. The negative predictive value of D‐dimer testing alone was 99.8%, suggesting it may safely exclude PE.

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