• Mizuki Nishino, Takeshi Kubo, Milliam L Kataoka, Shiva Gautam, Vassilios Raptopoulos, and Hiroto Hatabu.
• Department of Radiology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02215, USA. mnishino@bidmc.harvard.edu
• J Comput Assist Tomogr. 2006 Mar 1; 30 (2): 233-7.

ObjectiveTo evaluate coronal reformations of the chest on 64-row multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT) for detection of pulmonary embolisms compared with axial images.MethodsThirty-eight consecutive patients who underwent pulmonary computed tomography angiography (CTA) on 64-row MDCT for a suspected pulmonary embolism were retrospectively studied. Contiguous 2-mm axial and coronal images were reviewed independently. A pulmonary embolism was assessed in the main, lobar, or segmental pulmonary arteries and was scored using a 5-point scale.ResultsA pulmonary embolism was demonstrated in 10% (4 of 38) of axial images and 16% (6 of 38) of coronal images. Interpretation was concordant in 95% to 100% of cases for a main or lobar pulmonary embolism and in 80% to 82% of cases for a segmental pulmonary embolism. Agreement of scores was almost perfect for a a main or lobar pulmonary embolism (mean weighted kappa value = 0.969) and moderate to good for a segmental pulmonary embolism (mean weighted kappa value = 0.560).ConclusionCoronal reformations of the chest on 64-row MDCT were as informative as axial images for the detection of main, lobar, and segmental pulmonary embolisms.

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