Right-ventricular function as assessed by two radionuclide techniques: concise communication.

The gated semiautomated first pass and non-gated manual first pass methods of right ventricular ejection fraction calculation were compared. It was found that the gated first pass study was the simplest and fastest to process and was overall judged to give at least as much information as the other technique.

Radionuclide measurement of differential glomerular filtration rate.

The authors sought to determine whether radionuclides could provide a reasonable estimate of differential renal function in five normal dogs and six dogs with unilateral segmental renal infarction. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of each kidney was measured by the standard technique using constant infusions of 99mTc-DTPA, iothalamate, and creatinine following ureteral catheterization. These results were correlated with total GFR estimated by bolus injection of 99mTc-DTPA and analysis of the plasma 99mTc-DTPA disappearance curve obtained by blood sampling. Differential GFR was then calculated by multiplying the total GFR from double exponential analysis of this curve (DTPA2) by each of three measures of differential function. These include the percent differential uptake of 99mTc-DTPA and 99mTc-DMSA in the posterior projection as well as the geometric mean of 99mTc-DMSA uptake. There were good correlations between differential GFR calculated from iothalamate clearances obtained at ureteral catheterization and all noninvasive methods involving radionuclides and DTPA2 (r = 0.85 - 0.99). Single exponential analysis of the 99mTc-DTPA plasma disappearance curve was less satisfactory. The authors suggest that measurement of total and differential GFR calculated from plasma clearance of 99mTc-DTPA and external counting may be a useful method with potential clinical applications.

Detection of obstructive uropathy using 99mtechnetium diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid.

A simple, accurate test with no morbidity and effective for the detection of urinary tract obstruction in patients with normal and impaired renal function would be of significant clinical use. We herein evaluate the ability of 99mtechnetium diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid to detect the presence or absence of obstruction. Of 107 patients who underwent recent studies 31 had confirmation of the presence or absence of obstruction by excretory urography, retrograde pyelography or other definitive procedures. Patients were studied in the posterior projection wtih perfusion images after intravenous injection of 20 millicuries 99mtechnetium diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid. Static images of the urinary tract were obtained from 1 to 30 minutes after injection with delayed images up to 24 hours. Obstruction were defined as abnormal retention of activity in the collecting system persisting in the delayed images. Diethylentriaminepentaacetic acid identified correctly 13 of 13 patients proved to have obstruction and 17 of 18 without obstruction. One falsely positive result was owing to pyelocaliectasis. These data indicate a sensitivity of 100 per cent, specificity of 94 per cent and accuracy of 97 per cent.

Pseudoaneurysm of the profunda femoris artery diagnosed on angiographic phase of bone scan.

A case of post-traumatic aneurysm of the profunda femoris artery following self-administration of an intramuscular injection is reported. The diagnosis was made prior to contrast arteriography on the basis of a radionuclide angiogram performed as part of a bone scan. Additional confirmation was obtained by ultrasound examination.