Background
Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a potentially life-threatening condition caused by a blood clot traveling to the arteries of the lungs. In the emergency department, clinicians must quickly estimate which patients are at higher risk of deterioration, need intensive therapy, or are likely to die within days to weeks. Accurate risk stratification helps guide decisions about hospital admission, monitoring level, thrombolysis, catheter-based intervention, or safe discharge.
Several tools are commonly used for this purpose. The simplified Pulmonary Embolism Severity Index (sPESI) is widely known and easy to apply. The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) classification combines clinical findings, biomarkers, and imaging features to estimate risk. The Composite Pulmonary Embolism Shock (CPES) score is a newer tool designed to identify patients with hemodynamic strain or shock-related features by combining several bedside and diagnostic variables.
