For each assessment finding, click to specify if the finding is consistent with pulmonary embolism, pneumonia, or pneumothorax.

S3 and S4 heart sounds suggest right heart strain from pulmonary hypertension due to PE — not typical of pneumonia or pneumothorax. Tachypnea occurs in all three conditions due to impaired gas exchange. Bilateral crackles indicate fluid or consolidation — more consistent with PE (pulmonary edema from right heart failure) or pneumonia (consolidation), not pneumothorax (which causes absent breath sounds). Fever is most characteristic of an infectious process like pneumonia.