Pulmonary perfusion in acute pulmonary embolism: agreement of MRI and SPECT for lobar, segmental and subsegmental perfusion defects.
OBJECTIVE
To assess prospectively the agreement of magnetic resonance (MR) pulmonary perfusion with single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) perfusion for perfusion defects down to the subsegmental level in patients with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE).


METHODS
In 41 patients with suspected PE, contrast-enhanced MR pulmonary perfusion (3D-FLASH, TR/TE 1.6/0.6 ms) was compared to SPECT perfusion on a per-examination basis as well as at the lobar, segmental, and subsegmental level.


RESULTS
The MRI protocol was completed in all patients, and mean examination time was 3 min 56 s. MR perfusion showed a very high agreement with SPECT (kappa value per examination 0.98, and 0.98, 0.83, and 0.69 for lobar, segmental, and subsegmental perfusion defects, respectively). Of 15 patients with PE, MR perfusion detected 14 cases.


CONCLUSIONS
The very high agreement of MR perfusion with SPECT perfusion enables the detection of subtle findings in suspected PE.
Kluge
A
A
Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Pius-Hospital, Oldenburg, Germany. a_kluge@arcor.de
Gerriets
T
T
Stolz
E
E
Dill
T
T
Mueller
K-D
KD
Mueller
C
C
Bachmann
G
G
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011652:Pulmonary Circulation; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon