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Pulmonary perfusion ''without ventilation''

Journal Article · · J. Nucl. Med.; (United States)
OSTI ID:5442435
An 88-yr-old man, with prior left upper lobectomy and phrenic nerve injury, had a ventilation/perfusion lung image. Both wash-in and equilibrium ventilation images showed no radioactive gas in the left lung. Nevertheless, the left lung was perfused. A similar result was obtained on a repeat study 8 days later. Delayed images, during washout, showed some radioactive gas in the left lung. Nearly absent ventilation (but continued perfusion) of that lung might have been related to altered gas dynamics brought about by the prior lobectomy, a submucosal bronchial lesion, phrenic nerve damage, and limited motion of the left part of the diaphragm. This case raises the issue of the degree of ventilation (and the phase relationship between the lungs) required for the entry of radioactive gas into a diseased lung, and the production of a ''reversed ventilation/perfusion mismatch.''
Research Organization:
Univ. of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington
OSTI ID:
5442435
Journal Information:
J. Nucl. Med.; (United States), Journal Name: J. Nucl. Med.; (United States) Vol. 24:12; ISSN JNMEA
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English