The role of nuclear medicine in the detection of acute gastrointestinal bleeding.

The clinical consequences of lower gastrointestinal bleeding range from trivial to life-threatening. Nuclear medicine imaging techniques allow identification of those patients who are actively bleeding. The demonstration of active bleeding not only provides important prognostic information but also allows for a coordinated imaging approach using angiography and aids localization of the bleeding site.

Appropriate utilization of semi-quantitative analysis in salivary scintigraphy.

Aim: The purpose of this case-control study was to determine whether semi-quantitative indices derived from salivary time-activity curves (TACs) are useful in the diagnosis and management of xerostomia.

Methods: Twenty-six healthy volunteers and 83 consecutive patients with xerostomia, including a subset of 40 patients with Sjogren's syndrome, underwent sequential salivary scintigraphy (SSS). Semi-quantitative analysis of the TACs was performed, deriving six different indices, previously cited in the literature, for each patient.

Esophageal dysfunction in patients with atypical chest pain investigated with esophageal scintigraphy and myocardial perfusion imaging: an outcome study.

Background: The objectives of this study were to determine the role of esophageal scintigraphy (ES) and myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) in patients with atypical chest pain investigated for ischemic heart disease (IHD).

Methods And Results: One hundred five consecutive patients with atypical chest pain were investigated by dual-isotope MPI (1-day rest-stress protocol). Within a 10-day period, each patient also had liquid and semisolid ES performed with dynamic imaging over a 2-minute period for each phase.