CHRONIC-RENAL-FAILURE AND ABNORMALITIES OF LUNG PERFUSION SCINTIGRAPHY

Extensive pulmonary perfusion defects have been observed in some patients with no history of lung disease but with chronic renal failure (CRF) and this has led to lung perfusion scintigraphy (LPS) during the pretransplantation evaluation to facilitate the search for a post-operative pulmonary embolism. The quality of pulmonary perfusion was evaluated using an index similar to the vascular component of Miller's index. Each patients was evaluated by two independent observers. Ninety-four pts with CRF were included. The mean score was 4.7 +/- 3.7 (range : 1-9, theoretical values : 0-18), it was higher in men and related to the age, but not to smoking, to the causal renal pathology or to hemodialysis (HD). In HD patients, the score was not related to the duration of HD or to the time elapsed between LPS and the last HD session. The correlation coefficient was 0.82 between the two observers and 0.83 for the same observer.