Nucl Med Mol Imaging.  2012 Mar;46(1):65-68.

Compression of the Right Pulmonary Artery by a Massive Descending Aortic Aneurysm Causing Bilateral Perfusion Defects on Pulmonary Scintigraphy

• Makis W
• Derbekyan

Abstract

A 67-year-old woman, who presented with a 2 month history of dyspnea, had a ventilation and perfusion lung scan that showed absent perfusion of the entire right lung with normal ventilation, as well as a rounded matched defect in the left lower lung adjacent to midline, suspicious for an aortic aneurysm or dissection. CT pulmonary angiography revealed a massive descending aortic aneurysm compressing the right pulmonary artery as well as the left lung parenchyma, accounting for the bilateral perfusion scan defects. We present the Xe-133 ventilation, Tc-99m MAA perfusion and CT pulmonary angiography imaging findings of this rare case.

Keyword

Unilateral absent perfusion; Descending aortic aneurysm; Ventilation and perfusion scan; VQ scan; CT pulmonary angiography

MeSH Terms

Accounting
Aged
Angiography
Aortic Aneurysm
Dyspnea
Female
Humans
Lung
Perfusion
Pulmonary Artery
Ventilation