There is still considerable debate about the optimal diagnostic imaging modality for acute pulmonary embolism. If imaging is deemed necessary from an initial clinical evaluation such as d-dimer testing, options include nuclear medicine scanning, catheter pulmonary angiography, and spiral CT. In many institutions, spiral CT is becoming established as the first-line imaging test in daily clinical...

A 61-yr-old female was diagnosed with pulmonary embolism. She had a history of poorly differentiated thyroid cancer with follicular cell phenotype, and had first been treated in 2006 by thyroidectomy and radioactive iodine-131. Local relapse (cervical nodes) had occurred within 3 months and required five cycles of chemotherapy, consisting of cisplatin and doxorubicin, followed by cervical radio...

A 59-year-old female with history of progressive scleroderma and pulmonary fibrosis was referred for biopsy of a pulmonary nodule that was discovered on computed-tomography (CT) chest surveillance, not present on prior CT- scan. Imaging was suspicious for granuloma, malignancy or aneurysm. CT- Angiography (CTA), performed immediately before the procedure, did not show enhancement of the mass, f...

From the prospective and outcome-based studies that have been carried out in the past few years, the following conclusions regarding the diagnostic evaluation of patients with suspected PE can be made: 1. A normal V/Q scan interpretation excludes the diagnosis of clinically significant PE. 2. Patients with a very-low- or low-probability V/Q scan interpretation and a low clinical likelihood of P...

A 52-y-old man presenting with dyspnea and a massive effusion in the right pleural cavity underwent wedge biopsies of pulmonary lesions found on thoracic CT, leading to a diagnosis of pleural angiosarcoma. Bleeding developed postoperatively and was investigated using pulmonary CT angiography, which failed to identify a site of active bleeding. (99m)Tc-labeled red blood cell (RBC) SPECT/CT of th...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to report multidetector computed tomography (CT) imaging findings relating to segmental pulmonary arterial ectasia (PAE), which is a very rare vascular condition. CLINICAL PRESENTATION AND INTERVENTION A 70-year-old woman presented with shortness of breath and increased production of purulent sputum. Chest CT angiography revealed bronchiectasis secondary to...

The diagnosis of acute pulmonary thromboembolism is based on clinical probability, use of D-dimer (when available) and imaging. The main imaging modalities used in the diagnosis are ventilation-perfusion (V/Q), pulmonary angiography, and computed tomography (CT). In the last decade several studies have demonstrated that spiral CT has a high sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of acute ...