title: Extrahepatic uptake of technetium-99m-phytate: a prognostic index in patients with cirrhosis.
abstract: We examined the usefulness of technetium-99m-phytate (99mTc-phytate) hepatic scintigraphy in the evaluation of hepatic function, and the assessment of prognosis in patients with cirrhosis. Ninety-four patients with biopsy-documented cirrhosis had, at the time of entry into the study, a scintigraphy with 99mTc-phytate complexed with calcium in vivo. Extrahepatic uptake (EHU) of 99mTc-phytate on scintigraphy was graded from 0 (absent EHU) to 5 (important EHU) according to the relative distribution of the radiotracer between the liver, the spleen and the bone marrow. The severity of liver disease was also assessed according to the index of Child and Turcotte as modified by Pugh et al. Mean follow-up was 2 yr. EHU was correlated to the Pugh score (r = 0.73) and to survival. Survival at 2 yr was 97% for an EHU equal or inferior to 2.5, 62% for grades 3-4.5, and 31% for grade 5. In conclusion, hepatic imaging with 99mTc-phytate, in addition to its diagnostic value, also contains valuable prognostic information in patients with cirrhosis.
authors.affiliation: Division of Nuclear Medicine and Hepatology, Hopital Saint-Luc, Université de Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Picard
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Infante-Rivard
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Villeneuve
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chartrand
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Picard
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Carrier
mesh_terms: D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000401:mortality; D008875:Middle Aged; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D010833:Phytic Acid; D011379:Prognosis; D012372:ROC Curve; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D013154:Spleen / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; C026177:technetium phytate; D010833:Phytic Acid