Diagnosis of pulmonary embolism with spiral and electron-beam CT

Purpose:To compare spiral (SCT) and electron-beam CT (EBT) for the diagnosi s of pulmonary embolism (PE). Materials and methods: From June 1997 to June 1998 188 patients with suspec ted acute or chronic thrombembolism of the pulmonary arteries were examined . A total of 108 patients were scanned using SCT and 80 patients using EBT. On each scanner two different scan protocols were evaluated. Results: PE was diagnosed in 38 patients using EBT and in 49 patients using SCT. Especially with EBT, isolated peripheral emboli could be confidently diagnosed. When EBT and SCT were compared for the analysis of peripheral pu lmonary arteries, some para-cardiac segmental and subsegmental Vessels were significantly better analyzable with EBT. Additional or diseases other tha n PE were diagnosed in 112 patients. Other diagnoses included bronchial car cinoma and aortic dissection. Conclusions: Advanced CT scanning techniques allow the highly accurate diag nosis of central and peripheral PE. Other potentially life-threatening unde rlying diseases are also readily recognized.