Radionuclide pulmonary arteriography

Radionuclide pulmonary arteriography offers a unique method for visualizing the main pulmonary artery and its major branches. Since the radioactive particles that are injected intravenously become lodged in the pulmonary capillaries and pre-capillary arterioles, there is no interference from the systemic circulation. Normally, the main pulmonary artery is visualized for no longer than 4 or 6 seconds; prolongation of the duration of visualization may be indicative of, for example, pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary embolism. The patency of the left and right pulmonary arteries may be determined and sites of occlusion identified.     

Intralobar pulmonary sequestration: Value of aortography and pulmonary arteriography

Twelve patients with plain roentgenographic findings of intralobar pulmonary sequenstration were evaluated with aortography and, in most instances, pulmonary arteriography. Correlative criteria from aortography and pulmonary arteriography permit a precise diagnosis to be made. Pulmonary infections must be differentiated from intralobar pulmonary sequestration because treatment for the latter should be surgical.     

Reliability of selective pulmonary arteriography in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism

To test the reliability of conventional selective pulmonary arteriography in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism, three angiographers reviewed the arteriograms of a series of 60 patients retrospectively, independently, and without benefit of additional data. Pulmonary arteriograms had been interpreted as positive for pulmonary embolism in 25 of these patients during their hospitalizations. Angiographers A, B, and C judged the arteriograms of 24, 29, and 25 patients, respectively, as positive for pulmonary embolism. Mean interobserver agreement was 86%. Interobserver agreement was not associated significantly with the quality of the arteriogram or with selective injection of a lobar vs a pulmonary artery, but was associated strongly with the magnitude of thromboembolism. All angiographers agreed that the arteriograms were positive in 18 cases of pulmonary embolism graded as massive, lobar, or segmental, but agreed in only two of 15 cases graded as subsegmental. We conclude that conventional selective pulmonary arteriography is reliable in the detection of embolus in segmental or larger pulmonary arteries. Observer disagreement becomes considerable for embolus limited to subsegmental pulmonary arteries, indicating that emboli of this size are at the resolution limit of the technique.     

Validity of pulmonary cine arteriography for the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism

The aim of this study was to assess the interobserver variations in diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE) with cine technique and to compare the diagnostic accuracy of pulmonary arteriograms to final-outcome diagnosis. One hundred and seventy patients with clinical suspicion of acute PE were examined with ECG, laboratory tests, chest X-ray, pulmonary scintigraphy and selective pulmonary cine arteriography. The follow-up time was 6 months. Fifty-one arteriograms were interpreted as positive for PE. Two pulmonary emboli were missed when compared with the diagnosis as stated by the final-outcome committee. No arteriograms were considered as not of diagnostic quality. Mean interobserver agreement in lobar vessels was 100 %, in segmental vessels 93 % and in subsegmental vessels 63 %. The mean interobserver agreement was 89 %. Pulmonary cine arteriography produces high diagnostic accuracy and few inconclusive results in patients with suspected PE. Received: 29 September 1997; Revision received: 9 March 1998; Accepted: 14 July 1998     

New catheter design and placement technique for pulmonary arteriography

An improved catheter for pulmonary arteriography via the antecubital approach is described. The catheter has been used successfully in 56 patients.     

Suspected acute pulmonary embolism: evaluation with multi-detector row CT versus digital subtraction pulmonary arteriography

PURPOSE: To determine diagnostic accuracy of four-channel multi-detector row computed tomography (CT) in emergency room and inpatient populations suspected of having acute pulmonary embolism (PE) who prospectively underwent both CT and pulmonary arteriography (PA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients referred for PA to assess suspected PE were eligible. Institutional review board approval and written informed consent were obtained. All patients underwent CT and PA within a 48-hour period. For CT, 4 x 2.5-mm collimation was used. Three readers independently evaluated each study for PE presence. PE status, vessel level, and lobar location were determined by means of majority rule, and interobserver agreement (kappa) was calculated for PE status, as assessed with each modality. Sensitivity and specificity of CT were calculated by using PA as the reference standard. Two radiologists later reviewed false-positive CT studies. RESULTS: The study group comprised 93 patients (median age, 56 years; range, 19-88 years). Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of CT were 100%, 89%, and 91%, respectively. kappa values were 0.71 and 0.83 for CT and PA, respectively, and were not significantly different between modalities. At PA, 18 patients (19%) had PE at 50 vessel levels (five main and/or interlobar, 24 segmental, and 21 subsegmental), 17 (94%) of which had PE at multiple sites. At CT, 26 patients (28%) had PE at 71 vessel levels (24 main and/or interlobar, 33 segmental, and 14 subsegmental). Twenty patients (77%) had PE at multiple sites. Review of eight false-positive CT studies showed an appearance highly suggestive of acute PE in three patients, chronic PE in one, and no PE in three; one study was inconclusive. CT better demonstrated large-level vessel involvement (P < .01), while PA better demonstrated small-level vessel involvement (P < .01). CONCLUSION: Multi-detector row CT has an accuracy of 91% in the depiction of suspected acute PE when conventional PA is used as the reference standard.