Pulmonary embolism scores compared
This comparison describes how the methods differ; it does not declare one universally better — the choice depends on the patient and clinical context.
| Wells PE | Revised Geneva | PERC rule | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Method | Wells PE (Wells 2000) | Revised Geneva (Le Gal 2006) | PERC (Kline 2004) |
| Inputs | Clinical signs and symptoms of DVT، PE is the most likely diagnosis، Heart rate over 100، Immobilisation ≥ 3 days or surgery in the past 4 weeks، Previous DVT or PE، Haemoptysis، Malignancy (treatment within 6 months or palliative) | Age، Previous DVT or PE، Surgery or lower-limb fracture within 1 month، Active malignancy (or cured within 1 year)، Unilateral lower-limb pain، Haemoptysis، Heart rate، Pain on deep-vein palpation and unilateral oedema | Age 50 or over، Heart rate 100 or more، SaO₂ under 95% on room air، Unilateral leg swelling، Haemoptysis، Surgery or trauma within 4 weeks (needing general anaesthesia)، Previous DVT or PE، Hormone use (oral contraceptives, HRT, oestrogen) |
| Population | Adults with suspected pulmonary embolism. | Adults with suspected PE. | Adults in the emergency department whose clinician judges PE probability to be low (under 15%). |
| Key limitations | Includes a subjective item ('PE most likely'). | Use with D-dimer and imaging according to a validated pathway. | Not validated in populations with high PE prevalence. |
| Reference | Wells PS, Anderson DR, Rodger M, et al. Derivation of a simple clinical model to categorize patients probability of pulmonary embolism: increasing the models utility with the SimpliRED D-dimer (2000) | Le Gal G, Righini M, Roy PM, et al. Prediction of pulmonary embolism in the emergency department: the revised Geneva score (2006) | Kline JA, Mitchell AM, Kabrhel C, Richman PB, Courtney DM. Clinical criteria to prevent unnecessary diagnostic testing in emergency department patients with suspected pulmonary embolism (2004) |
| Version | 1.0.0 | 1.0.0 | 1.0.0 |