PMID: 9529304Apr 7, 1998Paper

Technetium-99m-DTPA-galactosyl human serum albumin liver scintigraphy evaluation of regional CT/MRI attenuation/signal intensity differences

Journal of Nuclear Medicine : Official Publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine
S AkakiY Hiraki

Abstract

Regional attenuation/signal intensity differences seen on CT/magnetic resonance imaging can be a clue in detecting regional hepatic blood flow abnormality. Sometimes, however, they can be misinterpreted as a hepatic neoplasm or, in the case of a true neoplasm, they can lead to an overestimation of its size because these regions often have similar attenuation or signal intensity to hepatic neoplasms. We evaluated 99mTc-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid-galactosyl human serum albumin (99mTc-DTPA-GSA) liver scintigrams in patients manifesting regional attenuation/signal intensity differences to further analyze the findings. Technetium-99m-DTPA-GSA scintigrams of 23 patients with regional attenuation/signal intensity differences in the liver at dynamic contrast-enhanced CT/magnetic resonance imaging were evaluated. The causes of the differences were arterioportal (AP) shunts in seven patients, decreases in the portal venous flow in seven patients, occlusion of right hepatic vein in one patient, confluent hepatic fibrosis in one patient and unknown in seven patients. The accumulation of 99mTc-DTPA-GSA was compared with each known cause of attenuation/signal intensity difference. Count ratios of the regions to normal hepatic parench...Continue Reading

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