The purpose of this investigation was to test the hypothesis that ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) lung scans in patients with suspected acute pulmonary embolism (PE) can be evaluated on the basis of the total number of mismatched vascular defects, irrespective of whether such defects are moderate or large size segmental defects. Lung scan data from the national collaborative study of the Prospective Investigation of Pulmonary Embolism Diagnosis (PIOPED) were assessed in 383 patients with acute PE and 681 patients in whom suspected PE was excluded. The predictive value of the cumulative number of mismatched moderate size segmental defects (irrespective of the number of mismatched large segmental defects) was nearly the same as that of mismatched large segmental defects (irrespective of the number of mismatched moderate size segmental defects). This suggests that the diagnostic value of mismatched moderate size segmental defects is the same as mismatched large segmental defects. Lung scans evaluated on the basis of the number of mismatched vascular defects (moderate and/or large segmental defects) were compared with V/Q scans evaluated on the basis of the number of mismatched segmental equivalents. The maximum likelihood estimates of the areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for the number of mismatched vascular defects and for mismatched segmental equivalents were similar (0.8512 vs 0.8530) (NS). Stratification according to the presence or absence of prior cardiopulmonary disease permitted a more accurate assessment of both clinical groups. Evaluation of V/Q scans by vascular defects and by segmental equivalents showed similar areas under the ROC curves. In conclusion, the number of mismatched vascular defects is as powerful for the assessment of V/Q scans as the number of mismatched segmental equivalents. The number of mismatched vascular defects, however, is easier to interpret, and permits a more objective evaluation.