European Journal of Case Reports in Internal Medicine (Aug 2018)

Triple POCUS: A New Approach to an Old Problem

  • Rafael Silva,
  • Diana Gonçalves,
  • João Pina Cabral,
  • Bráulio Gomes,
  • Jorge Teixeira,
  • José António Mariz

DOI
https://doi.org/10.12890/2018_000938

Abstract

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Pulmonary embolism (PE) is the most serious and life-threatening clinical presentation of venous thromboembolism, and difficult to diagnose. Triple point-of-care-ultrasonography (POCUS) of the lung, heart and leg veins is a multiorgan approach that may help to evaluate patients suspected of having PE, in combination with existing protocols and computed tomographic pulmonary angiography (CTPA). We present the case of a 26-year-old man with sudden onset of dyspnoea and swelling of the leg with a Well’s score of 9. With CTPA unavailable at the time of presentation, triple POCUS showed subpleural consolidations and a venous thrombus in a popliteal vein. A diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis with PE was made and the appropriate treatment was started immediately. Although triple POCUS has less sensitivity and specificity than CTPA, it could be very useful in some clinical settings.

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