Perfusion SPECT/CT to diagnose pulmonary embolism during COVID-19 pandemic

Excerpt

The global pandemic of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected the way we practice nuclear medicine [1]. The virus can spread from person to person very quickly through respiratory droplets, which is the major reason causing the global pandemic. Thus, it is very important for nuclear medicine service to take prudent measures when dealing with aerosol-generating procedures, such as request for ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) scan to diagnose pulmonary embolism (PE). The patients referred to nuclear medicine service for PE diagnosis usually had symptoms of dyspnea on exertion and elevated D-dimer levels, which were commonly seen in both PE and COVID-19 infection [2]. Meanwhile, there are increased evidence of association of PE in patients with COVID-19 infection, and failure to diagnose PE will worsen the prognosis [3, 4]. …