Methodology: 3.5/5
Usefulness: 2/5

Xu K, et al. J Thromb Haemost. 2021 Apr 8. doi: 10.1111/jth.15337. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33834620.

Question and methods: The authors sought to develop a new, simplified clinical decision rule to exclude DVT using individual patient data from 4 prospective diagnostic studies of patients with suspected DVT.
Findings: Three items were included in the new rule: 1) calf swelling, 2) DVT as most likely diagnosis, and 3) D-Dimer. The overall sensitivity was 98.1% and  specificity was 49.4%.
Limitations: External validation and prospective evaluation should be carried out to assess the diagnostic performance of the rule.

Interpretation:  This rule may be more appealing to use compared with standard approaches such as the Wells score because there are fewer items to apply. 

By: Dr. Alexandra Hamelin 

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Author

  • Hans Rosenberg

    Dr. Rosenberg is an emergency physician at the Ottawa Hospital, assistant professor at the University of Ottawa, and Director of the Digital Scholarship and Knowledge Dissemination Program.