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Updated: Aug 23, 2026
Phase-Resolved Functional Lung MRI for Pulmonary Ventilation and Perfusion (V/Q) Assessment
Published on: August 9, 2024
Clinicians' perceptions of the value of ventilation-perfusion scans
Alan Siegel1, Stephen R Holtzman, Michael A Bettmann
1Department of Radiology, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire 03756, USA. alan.h.siegel@hitchcock.org
Rationale:
The goal of this investigation was to understand clinicians' perceptions of the probability of pulmonary embolism as a function of V/Q scan results of normal, low, intermediate, and high probability.
Methods:
A questionnaire was developed and distributed to 429 clinicians at a single academic medical center. The response rate was 44% (188 of 429). The questions included level of training, specialty, probability of PE given 1 of the 4 V/Q scan results, and estimations of the charges for V/Q scanning and pulmonary angiography, and estimations of the risks of pulmonary angiography.
Results:
The medians and ranges for the probability of pulmonary embolism given a normal, low, intermediate, and high probability V/Q scan result were 2.5% (0-30), 12.5% (0.5-52.5), 41.25% (5-75), and 85% (5-100), respectively. Eleven percent (21 of 188) of the respondents listed the probability of PE in patients with a low probability V/Q scan as being 5% or less, and 33% (62 of 188) listed the probability of PE given an intermediate probability scan as 50% or greater. The majority correctly identified the rate of serious complications of pulmonary arteriography, but many respondents underestimated the charge for V/Q scans and pulmonary arteriography.
Conclusions:
A substantial minority of clinicians do not understand the probability of pulmonary embolism in patients with low and intermediate probability ventilation-perfusion scans. More quantitative reporting of results is recommended. This could be particularly important because VQ scans are used less frequently but are still needed in certain clinical situations.
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