title: Ga lung scan has come to stay.
abstract: Present status of Ga lung scan in sarcoidosis is reviewed: accumulation of radionuclide in the lung fields seems better quantified by computer methods; low doses (1.5 mCi) may be enough in the centres using subjective scoring methods; Ga positivity shown on four-view segmental maps of each lung could be useful in guiding BAL or lung biopsy. Ga lung scan appears more sensitive than both Chest X-ray and ACE in evaluating the response to therapy and in foreseeing relapses. The comparison with BAL is difficult due to the difficulty of comparing BAL data from different laboratories. Anyway, Ga, ACE and BAL are markers of different phenomena and all help our understanding of the disease and should guide our interventions. Ga scoring during steroid therapy has a strong clinical meaning only when positive, while negativity could be due to drug-induced uptake suppression.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D001980:Bronchi; D005260:Female; D005710:Gallium Radioisotopes; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000188:drug therapy; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A / Q000097:blood; D011650:Pulmonary Alveoli; D011859:Radiography; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D012507:Sarcoidosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000188:drug therapy; D007507:Therapeutic Irrigation
chemical_list: D005710:Gallium Radioisotopes; D005938:Glucocorticoids; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A