PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - De Sajal
AU  - Ravina Mudalsha
AU  - Lukose Tinu
AU  - T. Ganga Ranganath
AU  - Sahu Dibakar
TI  - Lung Perfusion Scintigraphy Early After COVID-19: A Single-Center Retrospective Study
AID  - 10.2967/jnmt.121.262440
DP  - 2021 Dec 01
TA  - Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
PG  - 320--323
VI  - 49
IP  - 4
4099  - http://tech.snmjournals.org/content/49/4/320.short
4100  - http://tech.snmjournals.org/content/49/4/320.full
SO  - J. Nucl. Med. Technol.2021 Dec 01; 49
AB  - The incidence of thromboembolic complications in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection is well recognized. The present study retrospectively evaluated the type and prevalence of lung perfusion defects in early–post-COVID-19 patients with hypoxia and was aimed to identify the risk factors for mismatched perfusion defects. Methods: We analyzed SPECT/CT images of 54 early–post-COVID-19 patients (44 men and 10 women). Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the risk. Results: The mean age of the study population was 55.4 y (range, 34–76 y). All received prophylactic anticoagulation from the day of hospitalization to the date of perfusion scanning. The median interval between COVID-19–positive reports and lung perfusion scanning was 22 d. Lung perfusion defects (of any type) were observed in most (87%). Twenty-three subjects (42.6%) had mismatched perfusion defects. Mismatched perfusion defects were segmental in 14 subjects (25.9%) and subsegmental in 11 (20.4%). Higher age was a risk factor for mismatched perfusion defects (odds ratio, 1.06; 95% CI, 0.99–1.13; P = 0.06). Subjects with a serum D-dimer level of at least 2,500 ng/mL on the day before the scan were not at higher risk for having mismatched perfusion defects (odds ratio, 1.14; 95% CI, 0.34–3.9; P = 0.83). Conclusion: Despite prophylactic anticoagulation, mismatched perfusion defects suggestive of pulmonary thromboembolism were observed. Serum D-dimer level in patients early after COVID-19 is a poor predictor of mismatched perfusion defects. Confirmed evidence of pulmonary embolism by imaging studies should support the decision to extend anticoagulant prophylaxis in post-COVID-19 patients.