Planar ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) scintigraphy is currently the standard method for the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE) in most nuclear medicine centers. However, recent studies have shown a superior sensitivity and specificity when applying V/Q single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in diagnosing PE. This study evaluated the diagnostic performance of three-dimensional V/Q SPECT in comparison with planar V/Q scintigraphy.