Nuclear medicine communications
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Comparative Study
Pulmonary activity on labelled leukocyte images: patterns of uptake and their significance.
The objective of this study was to characterize, and determine the significance of, pulmonary activity on labelled leukocyte images. This retrospective review included 137 immunocompetent patients who had undergone 111In labelled autologous leukocyte chest imaging and chest X-ray within 7 days. Pulmonary activity was classified as normal, focally increased, or diffusely increased. ⋯ No patient with diffuse pulmonary activity had pulmonary infection. In summary, negative labelled leukocyte imaging excludes pulmonary infection with a high degree of certainty (the negative predictive value was 99% in this series), and can exclude pneumonia as the cause of a chest X-ray abnormality. Focal pulmonary activity strongly suggests pneumonia, while diffuse pulmonary activity is unlikely to indicate infection.
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The aim of this study was to evaluate the possibility of pulmonary epithelial permeability damage in patients after hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) by 99mTc diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (99mTc-DTPA) aerosol inhalation lung scintigraphy. Twenty-five controls and 21 patients with normal chest X-rays and no cigarette smoking for at least 1 year were recruited for the study. 99mTc-DTPA aerosol inhalation lung scans were performed after 20 HBOT sessions in 21 patients with refractory osteomyelitis or diabetic foot. The HBOT with 100% oxygen at 2.5 atm absolute for 100 min was performed five times a week. ⋯ There was no statistically significant difference (P>0.05, unpaired t test) between patients and controls in every lung field. For the 13 patients who had 99mTc-DTPA aerosol studies both before and after 20 HBOT sessions, the results also showed no statistically significant difference (P>0.05, paired t test). It is concluded that there was no demonstrable pulmonary epithelial permeability change under current clinical HBOT protocol.