Lung scintigraphy and pulmonary function studies in obstructive airway disease.

Eleven normal volunteers and 65 patients with respiratory disease were studied with a battery of lung function tests, chest roentgenograms, and three types of lung scintigraphy—radioaerosol inhalation, xenon 133 gas inhalation, and perfusion lung scan procedures. Aerosol inhalation scans in normal volunteers showed uniform patterns of aerosol distribution nearly identical to their perfusion counterparts. All patients with airway obstruction showed abnormal aerosol scans. There were two distinctly abnormal configurations in aerosol distribution patterns, central and peripheral, and combinations of each. The abnormal central and peripheral patterns corresponded respectively with the emphysematous and bronchitic categories described by Burrows and associates (1). The aerosol inhalation scan as a sensitive indicator of airway obstruction is a useful counterpart to the perfusion scan and helps distinguish emphysematous, bronchitic, and mixed types of obstructive airway disease. It can disclose the location and...