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

• Published in: Nuclear medicine and molecular imaging Vol. 46; no. 1; pp. 65 - 68
• Main Authors: Makis, William, Derbekyan, Vilma
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01-03-2012; 대한핵의학회
• Subjects: Cardiology; Case Report; Imaging; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Nuclear Medicine; Oncology; Orthopedics; Radiology; 방사선과학; VQ scan; Descending aortic aneurysm; CT pulmonary angiography; Unilateral absent perfusion; Ventilation and perfusion scan
• ISSN: 1869-3474; 1869-3482
• DOI: 10.1007/s13139-011-0098-4

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.