ABSTRACT
Venous thromboembolism (VTE), otherwise known as pulmonary embolism (PE), can behave like a dangerous predator gnawing at the very strands of life itself. It can develop slowly, usually unseen, and often bursts into full clinical view with frightening rapidity and a potentially life-threatening cardio-pulmonary illness. Most experts believe from the evidence that up to 25% of sufferers will die within the first 4 weeks with a significant number succumbing within the first hour.1,2
Diagnosis of PE can be difficult for clinical staff because it shares early symptoms and signs with so many more benign cardio-pulmonary conditions3. While we in nuclear medicine have rarely been involved in treatment or prevention, we have had an important role in diagnosis of PE and in its exclusion for those cases where the clinical pre-test probability of PE was low to medium. The important task of eliminating PE from the clinical equation has always been helped by the speed at which VQ imaging can be performed and interpreted. This particular role is increasing in frequency at present and is permitting physicians, surgeons, obstetricians and family doctors to safely redirect their diagnostic energies to alternate diagnoses for those patients with suspicious symptoms but normal chest X-rays.
