MR Pulmonary Angiography to Replace CT Pulmonary Angiography for Patients With a Suspicion of a Pulmonary Embolism

Rational: The first choice of imaging modality for patients with a suspicion of pulmonary embolism is CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA). Our goal is to avoid extra cases of cancer due to the carcinogenic effect of ionizing radiation from using CTPA. This carcinogenic effect is greatest in women under 40. In the Netherlands, at least 100,000 CTPA's are performed each year, 10% of which are in women under 40 years old, resulting in at least 10 extra tumors induced per year. The goal is to investigate whether MR Pulmonary angiography (MRPA) can serve as an alternative to CTPA. If it can replace CTPA, this will result in a significant health benefit. Objective: the primary objective is to determine the sensitivity and specificity of MR Pulmonary Angiography (MRPA) with CT Pulmonary Angiography (CTPA) as the gold standard. Secondary outcomes: to determine the clinical applicability of MRPA in daily practice, negative predictive value, positive predictive value, accuracy of MRPA (compared to CTPA), and agreement in assessment between radiologists. Study design: observational-prospective diagnostic study, an additional MRPA will be performed in patients with a suspicion of pulmonary embolism. Study population: in patients with clinical suspicion of pulmonary embolism, a standard CTPA is made for exclusion or confirmation of the disease. The study population will consist of 272 patients. Primary outcome parameters: determining the sensitivity and specificity of MRPA compared to CTPA (gold standard) in patients with a (clinical) suspicion of pulmonary embolism. Secondary outcome parameters: Determining the negative predictive value, positive predictive value, accuracy, inter-observer agreement with respect to MRPA, and applicability in daily clinical practice.