Skip to Main Content

1-7 of 7 Results

eFigure 9–19. Normal lung perfusion. A routine examination may include as many as eight views– anterior, posterior, right and left anterior and posterior obliques, and both right and left laterals (A to H). Some physicians prefer to omit the anterior obliques; others do not include the laterals. There is general agreement that the posterior obliques are the most valuable views. When the patient is injected in the supine position, the radioactive particles are evenly distributed throughout the lungs, with a gently increasing gradient of activity from the upper anterior to the lower posterior lung fields. The cardiac and mediastinal spaces between the lungs have a configuration in the combined anterior and posterior views similar to that of the respective area in the posteroanterior CXR. Cardiomegaly and mediastinal masses will cause distortions that are common to both examinations. An enlarged cardiac space may be caused by cardiomegaly and by effusions or other conditions of the pericardial sac and adjacent pleural cavity. If the patient is rotated, the lung images may override and cause a false defect, which will disappear when the patient is repositioned accurately. However, a true lesion is unlikely if seen in only one view of a complete study. (Reproduced, with permission, from Baum S et al. Atlas of Nuclear Medicine Imaging, 2nd ed. Originally published by Appleton & Lange. Copyright © 1992 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.) A normal lung perfusion scan shows normal perfusion in six different views of the lungs.

Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment 2025 > Pulmonary Venous Thromboembolism

View in Context

eFigure 9–20. Normal lung ventilation with xenon-133. With the patient's single full breath, inhaled radioxenon is evenly distributed to all lung areas, reaching the terminal airways and alveoli in the normal patient (A, posterior view). There is a less noticeable gradient of activity from the upper to the lower lung fields than is seen in perfusion lung images. Fifteen-second images obtained during closed-system rebreathing of a xenon–oxygen mixture show uniform distribution at 120 seconds (B). Serial 15-second frames after switching the patient to room air breathing (C to G) show a homogeneous pattern of washout from all lung areas. This sequence mainly evaluates the posterior lung regions. To better localize gas trapping in specific lung segments or more anterior regions, the acquisition may be modified after the rebreathing phase by rotating the patient into posterior oblique positions. Selected images from a complete study include single breath (H, posterior view), the late phase of rebreathing (I, posterior view), posterior washout (J), left posterior oblique washout (K), and right posterior oblique washout (L). No gas is retained in this patient, which is normal, but in obstructive airway disease gas retention persists and is better localized in the oblique views than in a posterior view alone. A small amount of alveolar xenon normally crosses the alveolar membrane to reach the blood and be distributed throughout the body. Because it is highly soluble in lipids, xenon accumulates in adipose tissue, including the liver, which is faintly seen with prolonged rebreathing. Liver activity should not be mistaken for delayed washout of xenon from the base of the lung. Occasionally, splenic blood pool radioactivity or swallowed xenon in the stomach may also be seen. (SIN BRE = single breath, L REB = late rebreathe, WO = washout.) (Reproduced with permission from Grippi MA, Elias JA, Fishman JA, Kotloff RM, Pack AI, Senior RM, Siegel MD. Fishman's Pulmonary Diseases and Disorders, 5e. 2015.) Four examples of normal ventilation scans compared with eight examples of abnormal scans.

Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment 2025 > Pulmonary Venous Thromboembolism

View in Context