title: Angiotensin-I-converting enzyme and gallium scan in noninvasive evaluation of sarcoidosis.
abstract: Angiotensin-converting enzyme assays and gallium-scan results were obtained from 27 patients with biopsy-proven, clinically active sarcoidosis. Twenty-three of these patients had elevated converting enzyme levels, and 22 had positive gallium-scan results. Three of four patients with normal or borderline-elevated levels of angiotensin-converting enzyme also had positive gallium-scan results. Of 156 nonsarcoid patients (pulmonary and other diseases), 27 were found to have elevated serum converting enzyme levels, and 25 of these had negative gallium-scan results. These results indicate that the combination of an assay of angiotensin-converting enzyme and gallium scan increases diagnostic specificity from 83% to 99% without sacrificing sensitivity. We conclude that the concurrent use of angiotensin-converting enzyme assay and gallium scan is of value in the diagnosis of sarcoidosis.
mesh_terms: D004796:Clinical Enzyme Tests; D005710:Gallium Radioisotopes; D006801:Humans; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A / Q000097:blood*; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D012507:Sarcoidosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging
chemical_list: D005710:Gallium Radioisotopes; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A