Pulmonary embolism diagnosis and mortality with pulmonary CT angiography versus ventilation-perfusion scintigraphy: evidence of overdiagnosis with CT?
The results of this study are evidence that the shift in imaging from V/Q scintigraphy to pulmonary CTA resulted in increased diagnosis of a less fatal spectrum of pulmonary embolic disease, raising the possibility of overdiagnosis. Outcome-based clinical trials with long-term follow-up would be helpful to further guide management.
The multivariate analysis suggests chemotherapy has no effect on survival, but because of the wide confidence limits, a chemotherapy effect cannot be excluded. A study of this size is inadequately powered to detect small improvements in survival, and a larger randomized study remains the only way to truly confirm whether chemotherapy improves the results in high-risk MCC.