Spiral computed tomography pulmonary angiography in the diagnosis of pulmonary emboli

Abstract

Objective: To determine the diagnostic value of prospective spiral computed tomography pulmonary angiography in patients with suspicion of pulmonary embolism. Material and Methods: Among 67 patients with clinically suspected pulmonary thromboemboli, deep venous Doppler ultrasonography and thin-sliced spiral computed tomography were performed in all, ventilation-perfusion scintigraphy performed in 57, and pulmonary digital subtraction angiography in 4. The results were compared with findings of spiral computed tomography pulmonary angiography Results: Thirty-four of the 67 patients had a positive diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. Spiral computed tomography confirmed the diagnosis in 30 of 34 patients. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of spiral computed tomography pulmonary angiography were 88%, 91%, 91%, 88%, respectively. Conclusion: Spiral computed tomography pulmonary angiography is in accurate, valuable and non-invasive method in the diagnosis of central pulmonary embolism. Thus, it should play a role in the classical diagnostic algorithm. Copyright © 2005 by Türkiye Klinikleri.