The Diagnostic Accuracy of V/P Scintigraphy in Pulmonary Embolism and Superiority of V/P SPECT to V/P Planar Scintigraphy

Authors : Semra Demirtaş Şenlik, Gülin Uçmak, Büşra Demirel, Hülya Efetürk, İpek Öztürk, Aykut Kürşat Fidan, Figen Güneş

Pages : 45-52

Doi:10.52827/hititmedj.1553149

View : 29 | Download : 19

Publication Date : 2025-02-25

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Objective: The aim of this retrospective study is to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of planar V/P scintigraphy and V/P single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in patients who referred to our clinic for V/P scintigraphy with prediagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE), as well as to investigate the contribution of V/P SPECT technique to planar V/P technique. Material and Method: The records of 204 patients, who were preliminarily diagnosed with PE within 1 year, were retrospectively reviewed. In our investigation of the diagnostic accuracy of V/P scintigraphy in for PE, we excluded three patients who only underwent perfusion scintigraphy and 20 patients whose final diagnoses could not be confirmed. This left a total of 181 patients included in the statistical analysis. Furthermore, we evaluated the contribution of SPECT to planar imaging in 48 patients, for whom V/P Scintigraphy were reported as positive and whose final diagnoses confirmed PE. Results: The sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, positive predictive value, and accuracy rate of V/P SPECT were calculated as 98%, 94.7%, 99.2%, 87.3%, and 95.6%, respectively. For planar scintigraphy, they were found to be 71.4%, 95.4%, 90%, 85.3%, and 88.9%, respectively. In SPECT, 13 (27.1%) patients who were not compatible with pulmonary embolism (PE) on planar imaging were found to have findings consistent with PE. In nine patients (18.8%), additional defects not observed on planar imaging were identified. Although the goodness of fit with the final diagnosis of both methods was statistically significant, SPECT (95.6%) performed better than planar (88.9%) imaging. Conclusion: Consistent with previous studies, it was found that while both imaging methods were successful, SPECT demonstrated higher diagnostic accuracy than planar scintigraphy in diagnosing PE. Therefore, it can be hypothesized that V/P scintigraphy can be safely deemed the first-choice in the diagnosis of PE.
Keywords : Pulmoner Emboli, V/P Planar Sintigrafi, SPECT.

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