The Evaluation of Suspected Pulmonary Embolism

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Abstract
An otherwise healthy 51-year-old woman presents to her physician with pleuritic right posterior chest pain, without dyspnea or hemoptysis. Her temperature is 38.2°C, and her pulse is 102 beats per minute. Physical examination discloses a pleural friction rub over the posterior right hemithorax but is otherwise unremarkable. A chest radiograph is normal. She is treated with an antiinflammatory agent for presumed viral pleurisy. Three days later, she returns, reporting dyspnea. How should she be evaluated?