PERC rule

Pulmonary Embolism Rule Out (PERC) Criteria

If all BREATHS are present AND low suspicion for PE, no D-dimer needed:

B- No blood in sputum

R- room air sat > 95%

E- No estrogen or hormone use

A- Age < 50

T- No prior DVT or PE

H- Heart rate < 100bpm

S- No surgery/trauma requiring hospitalization in past 4 weeks

Note: Inclusion Criteria

Use this criteria if confident in excluding PE with negative D-dimer

Patient with dyspnea and PE was not felt to be the most likely Dx:

    -very low risk group ~2% overall PE risk

Note: Exclusion

DO NOT use if negative D-dimer does not r/o PE

Validated on 7527 patients found 96% sensitive in detecting PE

0.9% had PE, 0 died when all BREATHS present