CTICasesSuboptimal CT pulmonary angiography demonstrating acute pulmonary embolism
[...]. Suboptimal CT pulmonary angiography demonstrating acute pulmonary embolism. CTICases. Published January 4, 2019. https://str-case-explorer.pages.dev/c/a4d26
Imaging findings
Chest CT from an abdomen and pelvis study with suboptimal pulmonary arterial contrast opacification (approximately 103 HU) clearly demonstrates acute, low-attenuation filling defects in both pulmonary arteries, which were confirmed on a dedicated CT pulmonary angiogram obtained a month later.
Key takeaways
Although standard guidelines often require a contrast opacification threshold of 150-250 HU to rule out pulmonary embolism, acute PE can still be reliably identified on suboptimal scans with attenuation as low as 100 HU, especially on motion-free studies.
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