CTICasesPulmonary Artery Motion Artifact Mimicking Pulmonary Embolism
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Imaging findings
An initial CT pulmonary angiogram (CTPA) performed for PE evaluation showed substantial pulsation artifact in the lungs, with vessels appearing to bounce around and exhibiting ghosting phenomena related to cardiac motion, particularly in an area initially misinterpreted as a pulmonary embolism. A subsequent CTPA, performed on a different occasion using a flash scanner (with a high pitch of approximately 3 and a scan duration of less than one second), demonstrated very crisp vessels without pulsation artifact, revealing no pulmonary emboli and otherwise normal-appearing vessels.
Key takeaways
Significant cardiac motion artifact on CTPA, especially in longer scan acquisitions, can create pseudo-lesions, such as ghosting or partial volume effects, which may mimic pulmonary emboli and lead to false-positive diagnoses. Utilizing rapid acquisition techniques like flash scanning (characterized by high pitch and sub-second scan times) can substantially reduce motion artifact, improve image quality, and prevent such diagnostic pitfalls in the evaluation of pulmonary embolism.
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