Pulmonary embolism: is multislice CT the method of choice?

Excerpt

Nobody is perfect—and this is also true of imaging techniques. In the case of ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) scintigraphy of the lung for diagnosis of acute pulmonary embolism (PE), this was clear from the beginning. Indirect visualisation of the embolus by functional imaging of the lung may cause false positive results and hence low specificity of the examination. It has also long been clear that V/Q scintigraphy should be replaced by a non-invasive procedure for direct visualisation of the embolus as soon as such a procedure is available. The introduction of multislice (multidetector row) technology has drastically reduced motion blurring in CT angiography and thus detection of small peripheral emboli seems to be possible. In some countries, multislice CT (MSCT) is already recommended as a first-line modality for the management of suspected acute pulmonary embolism (for example, the British Thoracic Society makes this recommendation). So which arguments besides the availability of MSCT still favour V/Q scintigraphy? …