Stripe sign in pulmonary perfusion scintigraphy: central pattern of pulmonary emphysema. Work in progress.
Morphologic changes and ventilation abnormalities in the lung that resulted in the peripheral perfusion stripe (the stripe sign) on pulmonary perfusion scintigrams were studied in six patients. Chest radiographs, computed tomography (CT) scans, and positron emission tomography (PET) scans obtained using N-13 were compared. Although there was no apparent correlation between the presence of the stripe sign and the findings on the chest radiographs, PET scans depicted ventilation abnormalities in all of 11 lung areas with the stripe sign in six patients. In addition, ventilation was affected more severely in the central part of the lung than in the subpleural region in ten of the 11 lung areas. CT scans demonstrated emphysematous changes, with low attenuation values located mainly in the central part of the lung in all four patients examined. The results suggest an intimate relationship between the stripe sign and the central pattern of pulmonary emphysema.
D000368:Aged; D004646:Emphysema / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010477:Perfusion; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed