99mTc-MIBI scintigraphy in untreated stage III multiple myeloma: comparison with X-ray skeletal survey and bone scintigraphy.

Technetium-99m 2-methoxyisobutylisonitrile (99mTc-MIBI) is a lipophilic agent that has been proposed as a useful tracer for the detection of disease sites in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). We performed a prospective study to determine the potential of 99mTc-MIBI imaging for the evaluation of the extent of primary disease in patients with advanced stage MM, compared with skeletal survey and bone scintigraphy. Twenty patients with advanced stage MM at initial diagnosis underwent whole-body 99mTc-MIBI imaging, together with contemporaneous skeletal survey and bone scintigraphy.

Quantitation of defecation function using radionuclide artificial stool in children with chronic constipation.

We aimed to investigate the value of scintigraphically determined evacuation fraction (EVF) as an objective follow-up criterion in medically treated children with chronic constipation, and to evaluate the relation between patients' symptoms and rectal emptying rate. Thirty children (m: 22, f: 8, mean age: 8.9 +/- 0.

Tc-99m HMPAO brain SPECT compared to CT and EEG after seizures in childhood.

Twenty-one children with various seizure disorders were studied using Tc-99m HMPAO brain SPECT, cranial CT, and electroencephalography (EEG). The rates of pathologic findings on SPECT, CT, and EEG were 67%, 38%, and 52%, respectively. SPECT showed congruent, or more extensive, lesions in all eight patient with CT lesions.

Scintigraphic detection of splenosis: superiority of tomographic selective spleen scintigraphy.

We used scintigraphy with sulphur colloid and heat-damaged red cells to detect splenosis after splenectomy in 19 patients 7 to 69 months after injury. We compared planar and tomographic selective spleen scintigraphy using heat-damaged red cells with subtracted planar colloid scintigraphy, and showed that the most sensitive method was tomographic selective splenic scintigraphy. The incidence of splenosis was 58% with this method, the other techniques detecting abnormalities in 21% and 26% of the patients.

Detection efficiency of different bone SPECT processing protocols for the diagnosis of "spina bifida".

Bone SPECT is a very important diagnostic tool for the detection of metabolically active lesions, with good anatomical resolution. It is highly technique-dependent however, and the reports about the role of bone SPECT in diagnosing hypoactive lesions are very limited. In order to determine its diagnostic value, we investigated 18 pediatric spina bifida cases with bone SPECT using different processing and displaying methods.