Lung Ventilation / Perfusion Scan (V/Q)

One of the most common indications for a V/Q scan is suspected pulmonary embolism i.e. when the arteries or its branches supplying blood to the lungs are suspected to be blocked, causing breathlessness.

Procedure

This consists of two parts.

A) Ventilation

You will breathe in an aerosol mixture of oxygen and radioactive tracer for about five minutes. Images of your lungs at different angles will be taken with a gamma camera.

B) Perfusion

After the ventilation images are taken, you will be given a small injection in your vein and the same series of images at the same angles are taken again.

Patient Preparation

You will need to sign a consent form before the procedure

There is no special preparation before the procedure