The significance of lung scintigraphy in anomalies of the pulmonary vascular bed.

Aplasia, hypoplasia and stenosis of the pulmonary artery showed, on scintigraphic investigation, unilateral, homogenous decreased in lung perfusion. In 3 of 4 children with pulmonary sequestration there was a difference in blood flow between the two lungs, or in one part of the lung. Isolated anomalous drainage of pulmonary veins does not produce deviations from the normal distribution of blood flowing from the right ventricle into the lungs. Analysis of scinitigraphic findings in 1450 children with cardiopulmonary disease has shown that with an otherwise unexplained marked homogeneous unilateral decrease in flow, we can with great certainty diagnose a developmental defect of the pulmonary vessels. Differences in lung area, judged from the scintigram, are a sensitive indicator of associated disturbances of development of the lung parenchyma. In 26 of 42 such developmental anomalies of the pulmonary vascular bed this finding was demonstrated. Pulmonary scintigraphy is a very valuable complementary method, because of its simplicity and relative safety for the patient, in the diagnosis of congenital anomalies of the pulmonary vasculature, especially in infants and young children.