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Nika Skoro-Sajer, Alexander Becherer, Walter Klepetko, Meinhard P. Kneussl, Gerald Maurer, Irene M. Lang
Longitudinal analysis of perfusion lung scintigrams of patients with unoperated chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension
Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is the result of single or recurrent pulmonary thromboemboli that are thought to develop into organized pulmonary arterial obstructions by recurrent embolism and in situ thrombosis. Radioisotopic ventilation-perfusion scanning (V/Q scan) is a safe and highly sensitive test for pulmonary thromboembolic disease. The aim was to assess the natural history of thrombus expansion. We performed a prospective quantitative evaluation of ventilation/perfusion scintigrams (V/Q scans) in 20 patients with severe unoperated CTEPH.The baseline V/Q scan of each patient served as a reference for the second scan 21.7 8.2 months later. Planar images with intravenous 99mTc-labeled human albumin macroaggregates were reconstructed in six standard projections. Perfusion scans were analyzed by a semi-quantitative evaluation. In parallel, hemodynamics and clinical condition were prospectively observed. Lung perfusion scinti-grams analyzed by a semi-quantitative method in patients with severe unoperated CTEPH show an apparent decrease of segmental flow abnormalities over time, paralleling right ven-tricular decline.
Thrombosis and Haemostasis, Schattauer
Print ISSN: 0340-6245
Volume: 92, 07/2004
Pages: 201 - 207