In patients with high pretest probability and abnormal vital signs think about cardiac evaluation for pulmonary embolism. McConnell’s sign is most specific but can also be found in acute RCA infarct. TAPSE < 1.8 cm is also a good identifier of RV strain. Remember that patients with COPD or Pulm Htn may have RV dilation at baseline. You may also want to risk stratify patients with PE with labs as well as lower extremity dvt studies.
Let’s give a shout out to Ashley Pickering who recently took some awesome echo images of a patient with a known saddle embolism.
References
For more information on how to perform these exams and research data take a look at coreultrasound.com, thepocusatlas.com and ultrasoundgel.org.
