What is perfusion lung scintigraphy?

What is perfusion lung scintigraphy?

Introduction. Ventilation-perfusion scan, also referred to as lung scintigraphy, or commonly V/Q scan, is a diagnostic test utilizing radioisotopes to evaluate pulmonary ventilation and perfusion. Its most common clinical use is as a screening tool for suspected pulmonary embolism.

What is the main indication for ventilation perfusion scintigraphy?

The most common clinical indication for V/Q lung scan is to assess the likelihood of pulmonary embolism (PE) when contrast or radiation exposure is contraindicated.

What is a ventilation perfusion lung scan?

A lung scan can be a ventilation scan or a perfusion scan. A ventilation scan looks at how air moves in and out of your lungs. In particular, it looks at how air moves through the bronchi and bronchioles within your lungs. A perfusion scan looks at how blood is flowing within your lungs.

How is a ventilation perfusion scan performed?

During a perfusion scan: A health care provider will inject the radioactive tracer into your vein through an intravenous (IV) line. The tracer will collect in the blood vessels of your lungs. Your provider will use the scanner to take pictures of your lungs.

What is the difference between a CT scan and a VQ scan?

CT is faster and produces sharper images, which many believe make the results easier to interpret. Also, at most hospitals, a CT scanner is available 24/7, while nuclear medicine technicians needed to perform a V/Q study may not be on call, especially on nights and weekends.

Does a VQ scan use contrast?

What is the purpose of scintigraphy?

A procedure that produces pictures (scans) of structures inside the body, including areas where there are cancer cells. Scintigraphy is used to diagnose, stage, and monitor disease. A small amount of a radioactive chemical (radionuclide) is injected into a vein or swallowed.

What machine is used for scintigraphy?

Another extensive use of scintillography is in medical imaging techniques which use gamma ray detectors called gamma cameras. Detectors coated with materials which scintillate when subjected to gamma rays are scanned with optical photon detectors and scintillation counters.

Is VQ scan better than CT PE?

Several papers have reported statistically significant greater accuracy for PE detection for CT with sensitivities and specificities for CT of 83% to 94% and 94% to 96%, respectively vs. 65% and 94% for V/Q scintigraphy.

What is the difference between PET and scintigraphy?

18F-FDG-PET/CT and bone scintigraphy exploit different mechanisms to detect tumor involvement in bone skeleton. Bone scintigraphy relies on an osteoblastic bone response to tumor, whereas 18F-FDG-PET/CT measures glucose uptake into the tumor itself.

How is scintigraphy performed?

Scintigraphy is used to diagnose, stage, and monitor disease. A small amount of a radioactive chemical (radionuclide) is injected into a vein or swallowed. Different radionuclides travel through the blood to different organs.

What is the difference between dead space and shunt?

The main difference between the shunt and dead space is that shunt is the pathological condition in which the alveoli are perfused but not ventilated, whereas dead space is the physiological condition in which the alveoli are ventilated but not perfused.

What is VQ mismatch vs shunt?

V/Q mismatch is common and often effects our patient’s ventilation and oxygenation. There are 2 types of mismatch: dead space and shunt. Shunt is perfusion of poorly ventilated alveoli. Physiologic dead space is ventilation of poor perfused alveoli.