Applications of nuclear medicine in genitourinary imaging.

Major advances in nuclear medicine instrumentation and radiopharmaceuticals for renal studies have occurred during the last decade. Current nuclear medicine methodology can be applied for accurate evaluation of renal function and for renal imaging in a wide variety of clinical situations. Total renal function can be estimated from the plasma clearance of agents excreted by glomerular filtration or tubular secretion, and individual function can be estimated by imaging combined with renography.

Prediction of renal functional recovery after relief of upper urinary tract obstruction.

Renal cortical regions of interest were used prospectively to predict recoverability of renal function in 27 patients with unilateral or bilateral urinary tract obstruction. In these 27 patients 36 kidneys with short-term or long-term obstruction were studied. The 131iodine radiohippuran renogram curves were generated from areas of interest from the renal cortex and from the whole kidney.