Non-invasive MDCT Pulmonary Angiography in Unselected Patients with suspected Pulmonary Thrombo- Embolism.

ABSTRACT

Background: Pulmonary Thrombo-Embolism (PE) is a common and potentially lethal complication of deep venous Thrombosis (DVT). High sensitivity and specificity of Multi Detector Computed Tomography Pulmonary Angiography (MDCT-PA) in direct visualization of embolic material within the pulmonary arteries is due to its improved spatial and temporal resolution. Methods: We conducted a Prospective study to evaluate Non-invasive 256 Slice MDCT-PA in one hundred unselected patients with clinically suspected Pulmonary Embolism. Results: The total number of patients with thrombo-embolic disease in our study was 35 (35%), out of which acute PE & acute DVT were observed in 32% and 8% respectively. The percentage of Sub-segmental emboli among patients with acute PE was 34.37%, segmental thrombi was 87.5% and central thrombi was 96.87%.Conclusion: MDCT-PA possess the advantage of direct visualization and quantification of thrombo-embolic material and hence we advocate it to be the first-line imaging study for patients with clinically suspected PE.