Leg Scanning and Hip Surgery

To the Editor.— Regarding the article "Leg Scanning With RadioisotopeLabeled Fibrinogen in Patients Undergoing Hip Surgery: Comparison With Contrast Phlebography and Lung Scans" by LeMoine and Moser (1980;243:2035), the reference to my article1was appreciated; however, they misinterpreted our results, which seems to be a commonality of those who criticize our work. Their statement, "However, they included as 'false-negatives' 23 thrombi that were in the 'blind spot' and were, therefore, automatically destined to become false-negatives," is totally in error. None of the false-negatives reported were in the blind spot. Careful analysis of our data indicates that 14 false-negatives were found in the extremity operated on; however, leg scanning was performed only at points 4 and 5. Nine of the 23 false-negatives found in the anatomical area between Hunter's canal and the inguinal ligament were in the extremity that was not operated on. Furthermore, in the area between the popliteal