Assessment of Wells Criteria in Patients with Pulmonary Embolism

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is one of the most important emergencies in internal medicine. Wells criteria are used to predict the presence of pulmonary embolism on the basis of clinical manifestations. The aim of this study was to assess Wells criteria in patients with pulmonary embolism. Ninety-nine patients with the diagnosis of PE underwent anticoagulant therapy during 2002-2006. Data were collected using a questionnaire and then analyzed by using SPSS software. The most common symptoms were dyspnea (70.7%) and chest pain (60.6%). Wells criteria included “an alternative diagnosis less likely than PE" (84%), hemoptysis (34%), leg pain or swelling (30%), tachycardia (29%), recent surgery or immobilization (27%), previous deep vein thrombosis (22%) and malignancy (2%). Eight percent, 69% and 23% of patients had Wells scores less than 2 points, 2-6 and >6 points, respectively. Among the patient group with modified Wells criteria, 36 patients (36.4%) had scores <4 points and 63 (63.6%) had scores greater than 4 points. The majority of patients with PE had Wells score of 2-6 points and those patients with Wells score less than 4 had a positive CT-angiogram.