Roleofspiral volumetric computed tomographic scanning intheassessment ofpatients with clinical suspicion ofpulmonary embolism and anabnormal ventilation/perf usion lungscan

Background - A studywascarried out toevaluate thepotential placeofspiral volumetriccomputed tomography (SVCT)inthediagnostic strategy forpulmonaryembolism. Methods- In a prospective study249 patients withclinical suspicion ofpulmonaryembolismwereevaluated with various imaging techniques. Inallpatients aventilation/perf usion (V/Q) scanwasperformed.Seventysevenpatients withan abnormalV/Qscanunderwent SVCT.Pulmonaryangiography wasthenperformed inall42patients witha non-diagnostic V/Qscanandinthreepatients withahigh probability V/Qscanwithout embolion theSVCTscan.Patients withanabnormal perfusion scan alsounderwentultrasonography ofthelegsforthedetection of