ROLE OF CT PULMONARY ANGIOGRAPHY IN DIAGNOSIS OF ACUTE PULMONARY THROMBOEMBOLISM

*Dr. Tushar Kalekar

ABSTRACT

Since its introduction in 1992, computed tomography angiography (CTA) of the pulmonary arteries has become the main diagnostic test for the evaluation of pulmonary embolism (PE). With the advent of multi detector scanning, CTA has gained substantially in image acquisition speed and spatial resolution, which changed its diagnostic yield in many respects. Pulmonary embolism is the third most common acute cardiovascular disease after myocardial infarction and stroke and results in thousands of deaths each year because it often goes undetected.[1,2] Diagnostic tests for thromboembolic disease include (a) the D-dimer assay, which has a high sensitivity but poor specificity in this setting[3], (b) ventilation-perfusion scintigraphy, which has a high sensitivity but very poor specificity[4] and (c) lower limb ultrasonography, which has a high specificity but low sensitivity.[5] Computed tomographic (CT) pulmonary angiography has been evaluated has demonstrated sensitivities of 53%–100% and specificities of 83%–100% in wide ranges.[6]

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