Ventilation-perfusion scanning and pulmonary angiography: correlation in clinical high-probability pulmonary embolism.
During a 3-year period, 173 clinically selected patients underwent pulmonary angiography to confirm or exclude acute pulmonary embolism. All patients had undergone ventilation-perfusion (V/Q) scanning (167 patients) or perfusion scanning alone (six) before angiography. Angiography was done because the results of the V/Q scanning did not satisfy the clinician's needs for certainty. The results of the V/Q and studies were compared to determine the relative accuracy of V/Q scanning in this clinical setting. Pulmonary embolism was found in seven (15%) of 47 patients with low-probability scans, 11 (32%) of 34 patients with intermediate-probability scans, 22 (39%) of 57 patients with indeterminate scans, and 23 (66%) of 35 patients with high-probability scans. In this clinically selected population, low-probability scans were more accurate in excluding pulmonary embolism than were high-probability scans in establishing that diagnosis.
D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008722:Methods; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011652:Pulmonary Circulation; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011859:Radiography; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D014980:Xenon Radioisotopes
D014980:Xenon Radioisotopes