[Clinical evaluation of thrombo-embolic venous disease].

Clinical manifestations of venous thromboembolism are often subtle or misleading. Yet it is a potentially fatal condition. Although the symptoms and signs at presentation have a poor sensitivity and specificity when considered singly, the physician can accurately assess a clinical probability based on the history, the risk factors, the physical examination and some simple laboratory exams. This essential step allows us to identify a low risk group of patients which will benefit of a non invasive diagnostic strategy. More recently explicit prediction rules were proposed to offset the lack of standardization of this clinical assessment. These new didactic tools can simplify clinical evaluation. Nevertheless, their comparison to implicit evaluation reveals that they should be complemented by the physician's judgement.