How can ventilation perfusion scans be utilized in the evaluation of chronic PE?
Patients who are found to have pulmonary hypertension or other clinical symptoms or signs that may be due to chronic PE as a potential etiology can undergo a V/Q scan to assess for mismatched perfusion defects. A V/Q scan cannot be easily used to determine the age of perfusion defects, and therefore there is no way to definitively state whether a perfusion defect is attributable to chronic or acute PE. However, in the setting of a chronic disease process, such a finding would be consistent with chronic PE.
