“PE and clots?”
My father who is 86 years old, has a history of heart failure takes blood pressure and blood thinner medications was in the ER yesterday. He had a very swollen left leg from the knee down and the leg has a bruise. The doctors did a D-Dimer blood test which was rather elevated, now when they took a CT scan they did not find any clot and all the doctors told him was to follow up with his primary physician. I am a bit concerned that he still might have a clot and if not I need to have some sort of an idea of what else could be going on. I’d like to have a little peace of mind regarding my father and his health.
Male | 86 years old
Complaint duration: Off and on for several months
Medications: BP Meds, Blood thinners, Tylenol
Conditions: High Blood Pressure, MVP, Extreme Arthritis
2 Answers
If the swelling is only in the left leg, then it is not heart failure causing the swelling. The elevated D-dimer has me worried too. It could be that the clot was not defined when the hospital did the CT scan. If I were the duty physician, I would have ordered an ultrasound exam to make sure.
Yours truly,
Dr. Richard Evan (Rick) Steele
Yours truly,
Dr. Richard Evan (Rick) Steele
He needs to see his doctor. An elevated D dimer can mean many things---such as CHF. I can't diagnose him without seeing him.
