Pulmonary ventilation/perfusion scan

Table of Contents

Alternative Names

V/Q scan; Ventilation/perfusion scan; Lung ventilation/perfusion scan


Normal Values

The health care provider should take a ventilation and perfusion scan and then evaluate it with a chest x-ray. All parts of both lungs should take up the radioisotope evenly.


What abnormal results mean

If the lungs take up lower than normal amounts of radioisotope during a ventilation or perfusion scan, it may be due to:

  • Airway obstruction
  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
  • Pneumonia
  • Narrowing of the pulmonary artery
  • Pneumonitis
  • Pulmonary embolus
  • Reduced breathing and ventilation ability


Review Date: 09/15/2010
Reviewed By: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; Denis Hadjiliadis, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)