Venous Thromboembolism - Diagnosis - Diagnosis

Your doctor will ask you about your risk factors and your signs and symptoms for VTE. Your doctor may examine your heart rate and the area that is affected and ask about your overall health, including:

• Your recent medical history, especially any paralysis or periods of immobilization
• Medicines you are taking
• Recent surgeries or injuries you have had
• Whether you have been treated for cancer

• D-dimer test to measure a substance in the blood that is released when the fibrin proteins in a blood clot dissolve. If the test shows high levels of the substance, you may have VTE. If your test results are normal and you have few risk factors, you likely do not have VTE.
• Ultrasound to look for deep vein blood clots. This test uses sound waves to create pictures of blood flowing in your veins. The person doing the test may press on your veins to see if they compress normally or if they are stiff with blood clots.
• Computed tomography (CT) angiography to take pictures of your blood vessels and look for blood clots in the lungs and legs. This is the most common diagnostic test for pulmonary embolism.
• Pulmonary angiography to confirm a pulmonary embolism if, after other testing, your doctor suspects you might have one. This test requires inserting a tube into your blood vessel. It also uses X-rays to create video of the blood flow to your lung so your doctor can identify any blood clots.
• Other imaging tests to look at blood flow through your veins, heart function, and lung function if the results of previous tests could not diagnose or rule out VTE. These include venography, echocardiography, ventilation/perfusion scanning, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

To help diagnose VTE, your doctor may need to do tests to find out if other medical conditions are causing your symptoms. Other tests include:

• Blood tests to check whether you have an inherited blood clotting disorder if you have had repeated blood clots that are not related to another cause. Blood clots in an unusual location, such as the liver, kidney, or brain, may also suggest an inherited clotting disorder. Blood tests can also measure the level of oxygen and other gases in your blood.
• Chest X-ray to give your doctor information about what may be causing your symptoms, such as pneumonia or fluid in the lungs. A chest X-ray does not show whether you have a pulmonary embolism.
• Electrocardiogram (ECG) to identify other conditions that are causing signs of pulmonary embolism. An ECG records the electrical activity of your heart.

• Return to Risk Factors to review family history, lifestyle, or other environmental factors that increase your risk of developing clots.
• Return to Signs, Symptoms, and Complications to review common signs and symptoms of VTE.
• Return to Screening and Prevention to review what you can do to prevent clots from forming.