role of [99m]Tc-Ubiquicidin [UBI] and [99m]Tc-IgG scintigraphies in diagnosis of acute appendicitis: a preliminary result

Appendicitis is one of the most common surgical emergencies. In spite of the relatively high rate of negative appendectomy, as a result of miss diagnosis, uncertainty of diagnosis still continues to challenge physicians. The objective of this prospective study was to investigate the role of [99m]Tc-Ubiquicidin [UBI] scintigraphy in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis and to compare [99m]Tc-UBI scintigraphy with [99m]Tc-IgG scintigraphy. Twelve patients with right lower quadrant pain and suspicious of acute appendicitis were referred to the nuclear medicine imaging center. Radionuclide imaging was performed with [99m]Tc-UBI in 8 and [99m]Tc-IgG in 4 patients. Ultrasonography, Alvarado scoring and histopathological examinations were also performed as additional diagnostic tests. Reports from [99m]Tc-IgG and [99m]Tc-UBI scintigraphies of all patients were negative. This study may conclude that [99m]Tc-IgG scintigraphy and [99m]Tc-UBI scintigraphy in the detection of appendicitis do not have adequate efficacy. However, in order to better evaluate [99m]Tc-IgG and [99m]Tc-UBI scintigraphy, a comprehensive study on a large number of patients with clinical suspicious of acute appendicitis would be more helpful

Radiation exposure from diagnostic nuclear medicine examinations in Golestan province

The aim of present study was to estimate effective dose from most common procedures performed in nuclear medicine departments of Golestan province. Data of nuclear medicine procedures performed in 2 nuclear medicine departments in Golestan province were collected during 4 years. Effective dose, collective effective dose and effective dose per examination were calculated using standard dosimetry tables. Based on the data of this study, results of 10437 nuclear medicine procedures performed during 4 years have lead to 3.97 mSv as average effective dose per examination and 10.37 human-Sv as mean collective effective dose. It was also revealed that Tc-99m was the main source of effective dose [98.3%], bone scan was the most common procedure [25.9%] and cardiac scan [MIBI-rest] has the highest collective effective dose [33.5%] during 4 years. Beside the cardiac scan which was the most common nuclear medicine procedure and the main contributor of effective dose in patients, due to geographical condition of the northeast of Iran, bone scan was the highest performed nuclear medicine examination in the Golestan province

Sternal nonunion on bone scintigraphy: a case report

Sternal non-union is a severe complication of sternotomy closure following open heart surgeries. Healing problems typically occur in 0.3% to 5% of patients. Technetium-99m methylene diphosphonate [[99m]Tc-MDP] bone scintigraphy has been used to assess bone nonunion to predict the healing response for proper management. In this report, we present the case of a marked sternal nonunion following coronary artery bypass graft [CABG], using radionuclide bone scintigraphy