In this Medical Monday series, we’re talking about how your doctor reaches a diagnosis of common conditions associated with coagulation. It may help if you first read the introduction, before reading about today's topic of pulmonary embolism. Altogether we’re covering Introduction DVT, Deep Vein Thrombosis Post-thrombotic syndrome PE, Pulmonary Embolism … [Read more...]
Reaching your diagnosis – post-thrombotic syndrome
In this Medical Monday series, we’re talking about how your doctor reaches a diagnosis of common conditions associated with coagulation. It may help if you first read the introduction and last week's topic of DVT, before reading about today's topic of post-thrombotic syndrome. Altogether we’re covering Introduction DVT, Deep Vein Thrombosis Post-thrombotic … [Read more...]
D-Dimer Dos and Don’ts – Have you had this test?
What is a D-dimer test? A D-Dimer test is a blood test that may be done when a doctor suspects a blood clot. The problem is that it doesn't give a clear, yes or no, answer as to whether or not you have a clot. This makes it quite complicated to understand, and once you start adding the correct jargon like 'specificity' and sensitivity' you end up with the kind of jumble … [Read more...]
What was your WELLS score?
The WELLS score gives health professionals an idea of your likelihood of having a blood clot. There are different tests for DVT and PE. This is about the one for DVTs, which is the score most frequently used. The naming of this test is not from the place, Wells, a lovely town in West England, which happens to be where Angela was born, but from Philip Wells,(pictured left), … [Read more...]
Reaching your diagnosis – DVT
In this Medical Monday series, we’re talking about how your doctor reaches a diagnosis of common conditions associated with coagulation. it may help if you read the introduction first before today's topic of DVT. Altogether we’re covering Introduction DVT, Deep Vein Thrombosis Post-thrombotic syndrome PE, Pulmonary Embolism Pulmonary hypertension AF, … [Read more...]
SOCRATES – describing your pain
On Monday we talked about some of the mantas that are drummed into medical students as they learn the clinical skills of diagnosing medical conditions. Mnemonics are another helpful tool for medical students: These are words or phrases where each first letter represents the medical word that needs to be remembered. Traditionally, the more pornographic a mnemonic, the better, … [Read more...]
Reaching your Diagnosis – Introduction
Over the next few Medical Mondays, we’re going to talk about how your doctor reaches a diagnosis of common conditions associated with coagulation. We’ll be covering Introduction DVT, Deep Vein Thrombosis Post-thrombotic syndrome PE, Pulmonary Embolism Pulmonary hypertension AF, Atrial Fibrillation Heart Valve conditions - aortic and mitral … [Read more...]