Lung Perfusion Measured With Dual-Energy CT in Patients With Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension: Comparative Study With Right Heart Catheterization and V/Q

A comparative, observational, cross-sectional and prolective diagnostic test study, including patients that have had a right heart catheterization and were referred for a CT pulmonary angiography as part of their imaging workup protocol for pulmonary hypertension. Dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) pulmonary angiography was performed on each patient to obtain perfusion maps and do a quantitative analysis. Segments with and without perfusion defects according to significant differences in the quantitative values, were defined as compatible or not with chronic thromboembolism. To assess the accuracy of the method and evaluate its performance, these results were compared with the sole results from the right heart catheterization, known to be the gold standard diagnostic tool.