Esophagogastrectomy producing an unusual appearance on lung imaging.

Although serendipitous findings on scintigraphic studies may be diagnostically valuable and cannot be ignored, they may be confusing. The authors present a case of a patient who had an esophageal stricture treated surgically by esophagogastrectomy. The stomach was surgically pulled up Into an intrathoracic position and anastomosed to the proximal esophagus. Tc-99m DTPA activity from a pre-perfusion ventilation study in the supradlaphragmatic stomach caused an unusual appearance on the subsequent Tc-99m MAA perfusion scan. This finding can be diagnostically confusing and famlliarity with anatomical changes is essential to explain it.