Evaluation of correlation of D-dimer test and lung perfusion-ventilation scan in patients suspected to pulmonary embolism referred to nuclear medicine center

Abstract

The presence of a blood clot or fat in one of the pulmonary arteries is known as an embolus, which usually originates from the veins of the lower extremities (often above the popliteal) or the pelvic veins. Fat embolism are usually caused by bone fractures. Materials and Methods: In this dissertation, the records of patients referred at the routine request of the treating physician during the process of diagnosis and treatment of the disease, who underwent V/Q (perfusion-ventilation) scan, according to the protocol of the Nuclear Medicine Association, were reviewed. The distribution of the risk of embolism (high, low, moderate and normal) among the patients was evaluated using the standard PIOPED criteria. Also, the amount of D-dimer test performed for these patients was evaluated and with probabilities. Different diagnoses of pulmonary embolism and patients' clinical conditions were statistically matched. Results: According to the results, 64.3% of the subjects are less than or equal to 60 years old and 35.7% are over 60 years old. Among these patients, 67% are female and 33% are male, 16%. These people were pregnant and also 94.6% of people referred with shortness of breath and only 5.4% of patients did not have shortness of breath. The mean age of patients in this study was 51.48 ± 19.68 years. So that the age range was equal to 12-93 years. The results showed that there was no statistically significant relationship between D-dimer and V/Q result. Another side finding is that patients over the age of 60 have a 3.68-fold chance of being positive for V/Q result compared to patients over the age of 60, which is statistically significant.