Venous thrombo-embolic disease.

Department of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Respiratory Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA.

Comprehensive therapy 2009

Venous thrombo-embolic disease carries a high mortality rate and sometimes difficulties in diagnosis. Conventional pulmonary angiography remains the gold standard diagnostic test for pulmonary embolism. While contrast venography remains the gold standard modality to diagnose deep venous thrombi, the highly sensitive and specific venous ultrasonography makes it the most common initial test. The management of below-the-knee deep vein thrombosis and the indications for thrombolysis in pulmonary embolism are among the controversies explored.