Causes of perfusion defects on a VQ scan

Last revised by Travis Fahrenhorst-Jones on 26 Feb 2022

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Weerakkody Y, Fahrenhorst-Jones T, Hacking C, et al. Causes of perfusion defects on a VQ scan. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 24 Apr 2024) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-9234

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-9234

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/9234

rID:

9234

Article created:

26 Mar 2010, Yuranga Weerakkody ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Yuranga Weerakkody had no recorded disclosures.

View Yuranga Weerakkody's current disclosures

Last revised:

26 Feb 2022, Travis Fahrenhorst-Jones ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Travis Fahrenhorst-Jones had no recorded disclosures.

View Travis Fahrenhorst-Jones's current disclosures

Revisions:

6 times, by 6 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Chest, Oncology

Sections:

Approach

Tags:

cases, refs, infectious disease, oncology, nuclear

There are several causes leading to a perfusion defect on a VQ scan with an acute pulmonary embolus being only one of them:

Vascular causes

acute pulmonary embolus
previous pulmonary embolus (including fat embolism, thromboembolism, air embolism, tumour)
vasculitides affecting the pulmonary vessels
granulomatous disease affecting vessels
- pulmonary sarcoidosis
- tuberculosis
other conditions affecting vessels, e.g.
- intravenous drug use (IVDU)
- radiation therapy
- pneumonectomy
vascular compression/compromise from
altered pulmonary circulation
- pulmonary artery hypoplasia
- pulmonary sequestration
- cardiac disease