RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Lung Ventilation/Perfusion SPECT in the Artificially Embolized Pig
JF Journal of Nuclear Medicine
JO J Nucl Med
FD Society of Nuclear Medicine
SP 640
OP 647
VO 43
IS 5
A1 Bajc, Marika
A1 Bitzén, Ulrika
A1 Olsson, Berit
A1 Perez de Sá, Valéria
A1 Palmer, John
A1 Jonson, Björn
YR 2002
UL http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/43/5/640.abstract
AB Planar lung scintigraphy is a standard method used for the diagnosis of lung embolism, but it is hampered by the high incidence of nondiagnostic tests. Ventilation/perfusion SPECT may possibly improve this situation. The objective of this study was to compare planar lung scintigraphy with ventilation/perfusion SPECT using pigs with artificially engendered lung emboli labeled with 201Tl. Methods: Sixteen anesthetized pigs were each injected with zero to 4 latex emboli. Cylindric emboli were used in the first 7 pigs and flat 3-tailed emboli were used in the remaining 9 pigs. The pigs spontaneously inhaled 30 MBq 99mTc-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid aerosol for ventilation scintigraphy. Planar scintigraphy and SPECT were performed using a double-head gamma camera in 99mTc and 201Tl windows. Immediately thereafter, 100 MBq 99mTc-labeled macroaggregated albumin were injected intravenously followed by SPECT and, finally, planar scintigraphy. The ventilation background was subtracted from the perfusion tomograms for calculation of a normalized ventilation/perfusion (V/P) quotient image set. Results: The cylindric emboli caused artifacts in the ventilation images; therefore, these were excluded from the final analysis. However, for the planar perfusion images of these pigs, sensitivity and specificity were 71% and 91%, respectively, whereas SPECT yielded 100% for both. For the 3-tailed emboli and ventilation/perfusion images, the sensitivity and specificity were 64% and 79%, respectively, for the planar modality, whereas SPECT yielded values of 91% and 87%, respectively. Conclusion: V/P SPECT may improve the diagnostic power of lung scintigraphy.