Lung imaging with radioaerosols for the assessment of airway disease.

Aerosol inhalation lung scans offer distinct advantages in the evaluation of airways and the qualitative distribution of ventilation. The sensitivity in detecting mild obstructive disease is similar to that of xenon washout and both probably surpass standard pulmonary function tests that measure total rather than regional ventilation. Although imaging studies using krypton gas are ideal for assessment of rapidly ventilated space, krypton's short half-life precludes its usefulness for demonstrating air trapping. Neither 133Xe nor 81mKr gas demonstrates sites of airway abnormality as aerosol does. Aerosols are ideal for the general nuclear medicine practice in community hospitals because of their convenience, cost effectiveness, and information yield. Current technique using same-day multiple-view aerosol scans after a preliminary perfusion scan, makes use of the most logical diagnostic scheme in the vast majority of patients with chest complaints, since a normal perfusion scan often eliminates the need for a ventilation scan.