• Maurizio Zanobetti, Francesca Innocenti, Riccardo Pini, Sofia Bigiarini, and Alessandro Coppa.
• Department of Critical Care Medicine and Surgery, University of Florence, Florence, Italy. zanomau@libero.it
• Am J Emerg Med. 2012 Oct 1;30(8):1665.e1-3.

AbstractWe describe the case of a 75-year-old man affected by a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and chronic renal failure admitted to our emergency department for dyspnea and interscapular stabbing pain. Chest radiography showed diffuse parenchymal consolidation in the lower right lung with bronchiectasis, but the treatment for infection disease did not improve the clinical conditions of the patient. According to Wells score indicating an intermediate risk for pulmonary embolism, we performed a chest ultrasonography that showed ultrasonographic patterns of thromboembolism. Because the presence of chronic renal failure limited the execution of a helical computed tomographic pulmonary angiography, a pulmonary scintigraphy was performed confirming the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. Our case suggested that chest ultrasonography can be a valuable tool for early detection of pulmonary embolism and to establish immediately an appropriate therapy.Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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