False positive V/Q imaging in pulmonary contusion.

Pulmonary contusion and embolism are frequent complications of trauma. The radionuclide imaging finding of pulmonary embolism, a segmental ventilation/perfusion mismatch, has been documented in the literature to occur in pulmonary contusion, without, however, excluding concurrent pulmonary embolus by arteriography. The authors report a case of ventilation/perfusion mismatch due to pulmonary contusion with normal pulmonary arteriography.