This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related letter  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Pulmonary Diseases, Other  • Pregnancy and Breast Feeding  • Angiology  • Computed Tomography  • Venous Thromboembolism  • Alert me on articles by topic

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

In Reply: Dr Siegel raises an interesting point about which consensus does not yet seem to have been reached. Although some studies have calculated less fetal radiation exposure using helical CT scanning than scintigraphic lung scanning,¹ other studies indicate little difference between the 2 modalities or somewhat less radiation with scintigraphy when only a perfusion scan is done.² Moreover, CT estimates used very specific parameters for scanning time, collimation, and cranial-caudal scan extent, which might not strictly apply in all clinical situations. Some experts, such as a majority of PIOPED II (Prospective Investigation of Pulmonary Embolism Diagnosis II) investigators, recommend pulmonary scintigraphy for diagnosis of pulmonary embolism in the setting of pregnancy³ while others now recommend CTPA.⁴

Computed tomographic technology is rapidly evolving, and clinicians must stay informed of developments that may alter their test selection. Moreover, consistent application of validated prediction rules for pretest probability of pulmonary embolism/deep vein . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Jeffrey Glassroth, MD
j-glassroth@northwestern.edu
Department of Medicine
Feinberg School of Medicine
Northwestern University
Chicago, Illinois

RELATED LETTER

Evaluation of Suspected Pulmonary Embolism During Pregnancy
Mark D. Siegel
JAMA. 2008;299(14):1665.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT