Scintigraphic studies of inflammation in diffuse lung disease.
67Ga lung scintigraphy is an established means to assess alveolar inflammation in a wide variety of diffuse lung diseases. It can be used to monitor the extent and activity of the alveolitis during the course of the disease and as a follow-up evaluation to therapy. Although the mechanism of 67Ga localization is not established firmly, the isotope appears to act as a tracer for disturbed protein and cellular fluxes within the interstitium and alveolar spaces. The radiolabeled aerosol study may also be applied to the study of these fluxes as a reflection of inflammation and injury. Although Tc-DTPA clearance studies are highly sensitive to lung injury, they may be too nonspecific to separate lung injury from other physiologic processes effectively.
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Albany Medical College, New York.
D005710:Gallium Radioisotopes; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation; D008168:Lung / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D011009:Pneumoconiosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011859:Radiography; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D012507:Sarcoidosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging
D005710:Gallium Radioisotopes