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Pulmonary ventilation/perfusion scan - Results

Alternative Names

V/Q scan; Ventilation/perfusion scan; Lung ventilation/perfusion scan

Normal Values:

The health care provider should take a ventilation and perfusion scan and then evaluate it with a chest x-ray. All parts of both lungs should take up the radioisotope evenly.

What abnormal results mean:

If the lungs take up lower than normal amounts of radioisotope during a ventilation or perfusion scan, it may be due to:

  • Airway obstruction
  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
  • Pneumonia
  • Narrowing of the pulmonary artery
  • Pneumonitis
  • Pulmonary embolus
  • Reduced breathing and ventilation ability
  • Reviewed last on: 9/15/2010
  • David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; Denis Hadjiliadis, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Tapson VF. Pulmonary embolism. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007:chap 99.

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