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Functional Pulmonary Imaging

Baylor College of Medicine and St. Luke's Episcopal and Texas Children's Hospitals, Houston, Texas

Correspondence: For reprints contact: John A. Burdine, Nuclear Medicine Sec., Dept. of Radiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Medical Center, Houston, Tex. 77025.

ABSTRACT

The development of functional pulmonary images which characterize clinically important variables of regional ventilation and perfusion is described. A scintillation camera, dedicated general purpose mini-computer, and appropriate peripheral devices including a color CRT are used for data collection, processing, and display. Functional images from patients with recurrent thromboembolism and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are compared with those from a normal patient. The routine acquisition of functional information in patients with pulmonary disease should result in earlier diagnoses and lead to improvement in therapeutic approach since a specific response can be quantitated. The capability to follow the evolution of physiological changes in ventilation and perfusion also may provide clues to the pathogenesis of disease.