PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Cuomo, Jason R.
AU  - Arora, Vishal
AU  - Wilkins, Thad
TI  - Management of Acute Pulmonary Embolism With a Pulmonary Embolism Response Team
AID  - 10.3122/jabfm.2021.02.200308
DP  - 2021 Mar 01
TA  - The Journal of the American Board of Family
                Medicine
PG  - 402--408
VI  - 34
IP  - 2
4099  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/34/2/402.short
4100  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/34/2/402.full
SO  - J Am Board Fam Med2021 Mar 01; 34
AB  - Despite recent advances in the assessment, risk stratification, and treatment of acute pulmonary embolism (PE), it remains a leading cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in the United States each year. Patient presentation and prognosis are heterogeneous, and a variety of diagnostic and therapeutic instruments have arisen to assist in providing patients with the appropriate level of care and aggressiveness of approach. Fortunately, a growing number of institutions now have pulmonary embolism response teams (PERT) that urgently assist with risk assessment and management of patients with massive and sub-massive PE. In service of providers at the point of contact with acute PE, this review aims to summarize the data pertinent to rapid risk assessment and the interpretation of diagnostics used to that end. The role of PERT and the indications for systemic fibrinolysis and invasive therapies are also discussed.