Use of pulmonary angiography for suspected pulmonary embolism: influence of scintigraphic diagnosis.

The use of pulmonary angiography as related to ventilation-perfusion scintigraphy was studied at two teaching hospitals in 600 patients clinically suspected of having pulmonary embolism, using a combined prospective-retrospective approach. Sixty patients underwent angiography, 30 in each institution. A minority of patients in each scintigraphic diagnostic category underwent angiography, but the scintigraphic diagnosis had a major impact on the frequency of requests for angiography. Inconclusive scintigraphy was the principal reason for requesting angiography, although nearly half of patients in whom scintigraphic assessment was indecisive were managed without further diagnostic measures. Few patients in the low-probability and high-probability scintigraphic categories received angiography. This study also indicates that a substantial patient selection bias may exist in series that correlate scintigraphic and angiographic results.