Combined computed tomographic pulmonary angiography and venography for evaluation of pulmonary embolism and lower extremity deep venous thrombosis: report of two cases.

Pulmonary embolism (PE) and deep venous thrombosis (DVT) are major causes of morbidity and mortality, which can be reduced with accurate diagnosis and proper treatment. More than 90% of PEs originate in lower-extremity DVT. Currently, evaluation of PEs and lower-extremity DVT requires 2 separate tests (ventilation-perfusion scan, computed tomographic pulmonary angiography (CTPA), or pulmonary angiography for PE and sonography, computed tomographic venography (CTV), conventional venography, or magnetic resonance venography for DVT). Combined computed tomographic pulmonary angiography and venography (CTPAV) is a new diagnostic technique that combines CTPA and CTV into a single study for the screening of PE and subdiaphragmatic DVT. CTPAV is a modified CTPA study that evaluates the subdiaphragmatic deep vein system at the time of CTPA, without additional venipuncture or contrast medium. It is easy to perform, fairly easy to interpret, readily available, and requires no invasive procedure. We present 2 cases of multiple PE and lower-extremity DVT in which CTPAV was used.