Lower limb deep vein thrombosis in patients with suspected pulmonary embolism detected with (99m)Tc-MAA simultaneously with lung perfusion scan.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in patients with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE) and the relation between PE and the site of DVT by using technetium-99m-macroaggregated human serum albumin ((99m)Tc-MAA) radionuclide venography (RNV). Technetium-99m-MAA RNV was performed simultaneously with lung perfusion scintigraphy in 123 patients with suspected PE. The incidence of DVT in patients with suspected PE was 58.54%. The incidence of DVT in patients with PE was 77.46%, while in patients without PE was 32.69%. The rate of proximal DVT in patients with PE was 74.55%, while in patients without PE was 47.06%. The average embolic lung segments in patients with proximal DVT and patients with distal DVT were 6.2±2.3 and 3.1±1.2, respectively. In conclusion, lower limb (99m)Tc-MAA RNV demonstrated a high incidence (58.54%) of DVT in patients with suspected PE. The prevalence of DVT was higher in patients with PE than in patients without PE. Pulmonary embolism was more likely to occur in patients with proximal DVT, and more embolic lung segments were detected in patients with proximal DVT.