The value of bedside wedge pulmonary angiography in the detection of pulmonary emboli: a predictive and prospective evaluation.
A predictive study involving 74 unequivocally positive conventional pulmonary angiograms was conducted to determine the value of bedside, flow-directed wedge pulmonary angiography (BWPA). The flow-directed position of Swan-Ganz catheters in these cases was obtained from anteroposterior chest radiographs. BWPA could detect the embolism in 48% of the cases in which the right lower lobe alone was embolized, in 10% of the cases in which the left lower lobe alone was embolized, and in 30% of the cases in which both lower lobes were embolized. It is concluded that BWPA has a low sensitivity and specificity and is of little value as either a screening procedure or a diagnostic tool.
Angiography↗