Chinese multi-center study of lung scintigraphy and CT pulmonary angiography for the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. 
To evaluate diagnostic value of the PISA-PED and PIOPED II criteria for lung scintigraphy and compare it with CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) for the detection of pulmonary embolism (PE).  Five hundred and forty-four consecutive patients with suspected PE were enrolled.  All patients underwent lung ventilation/perfusion (V/P) scan, chest radiography, and CTPA.  Two readers used the PIOPED II criteria, and 2 used the PISA-PED criteria for the interpretation of lung scintigraphy.  CTPA scans were interpreted by two experienced radiologists.  Lung scintigraphy and CTPA were categorized as PE present, absent or non-diagnostic.  PE was present in 321 of 544 patients.  Using PIOPED II criteria, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) were 85.1, 82.5, 88.1, and 78.4% respectively for V/P scan.  Using PISA-PED criteria, sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV were 86.0, 81.2, 86.8, and 80.1% respectively, and none was non-diagnostic.  Sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV were 81.7, 93.4, 94.9, and 77.3%, respectively for CTPA.  PISA-PED interpretation has similar diagnostic accuracy to PIOPED II interpretation, does not have non-diagnostic scan, with lower cost and radiation, thus should be considered as a choice for patients with suspected PE.