title: Standing prone positioning in establishing causality between matched ventilation-perfusion defects and pleural effusion.
abstract: Ventilation-perfusion scintigraphy is routinely performed in patients with suspected pulmonary thromboembolism. Pleural effusions in such patients are common and can cause matched ventilation-perfusion defects. This is especially true of the posterior projections in the supine patient. Prone positioning has been described as a useful technique to redistribute pleural fluid anteriorly, exposing perfusion in posterior lung fields; however, some patients have a concurrent condition that renders prone positioning difficult. This report discusses a modified technique that allows patients to be imaged in a standing prone position with excellent results.
authors.affiliation: From the Section of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Radiology, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Penn State University, Hershey, PA.
authors.forename: Joseph S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Fotos
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tulchinsky
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D064847:Multimodal Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D056888:Patient Positioning / Q000379:methods*; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D016684:Prone Position; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D014692:Ventilation-Perfusion Ratio