The lung scintigraphy is a non-invasive technique for assessment of pulmonary function. The examination is split in two parts - the ventilation scintigraphy and the perfusion scintigraphy.
The ventilation scintigraphy evaluates the aeration of the lung, for which an aerosol (so-called Technegas) needs to be inhaled via a tubing system. The inhaled gas is predominantly attached to the alveolae and will be made visible with a Gamma cam and SPECT imaging afterwards.
Subsequently, the perfusion scintigraphy follows. With this part, the blood flow of the lung will be evaluated. For this examination you'll be injected with an radioactive substance (LyoMAA). This substance will reach the lung via blood stream and stick to the small blood vessels.
If there's a stenosis of the vessels less radioactive substance will reach them which shows diminished in the images.

For evaluation, the ventilation scintigraphy and perfusion scintigraphy will be compared to each other. They give information about performance, function and blood flow of the lung.
The complete examination takes about 1-1.5 hours.

INDICATION

- Suspected pulmonary embolism
- Evaluation of magnitude of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD)
- Evaluation of lung function, e.g. prior to lung surgery