Wells' Criteria for Pulmonary Embolism Calculator
About Wells' Criteria for Pulmonary Embolism
The Wells' Criteria for Pulmonary Embolism is a clinical prediction rule used to estimate the pre-test probability for pulmonary embolism in patients in whom acute PE is suspected.
Score Components:
- Clinical signs and symptoms of DVT (3 points)
- PE is #1 diagnosis or equally likely (3 points)
- Heart rate > 100 (1.5 points)
- Immobilization at least 3 days or surgery in previous 4 weeks (1.5 points)
- Previous DVT/PE (1.5 points)
- Hemoptysis (1 point)
- Malignancy (1 point)
Interpretation:
- Score > 6: High Risk (78.4% risk of PE)
- Score 2-6: Moderate Risk (27.8% risk of PE)
- Score < 2: Low Risk (3.4% risk of PE)
Clinical Significance:
The Wells' Criteria helps clinicians determine the likelihood of pulmonary embolism and guides decisions about further diagnostic testing, such as D-dimer testing or imaging studies.
References:
- Wells PS, Anderson DR, Rodger M, et al. Derivation of a simple clinical model to categorize patients probability of pulmonary embolism: increasing the models utility with the SimpliRED D-dimer. Thromb Haemost. 2000;83(3):416-420.
- Wells PS, Anderson DR, Rodger M, et al. Excluding pulmonary embolism at the bedside without diagnostic imaging: management of patients with suspected pulmonary embolism presenting to the emergency department by using a simple clinical model and d-dimer. Ann Intern Med. 2001;135(2):98-107.