Scintigraphic diagnosis of gastrointestinal bleeding with 99mTc-labeled blood-pool agents.
Abdominal scintigraphy with 99mTc-labeled albumin or red blood cells was used in 68 patients to localize gastrointestinal bleeding or confirm that it had stopped. Acute, active bleeding was identified in 33 patients; characteristic patterns of bleeding from the stomach, biliary passages, small intestine, and colon are shown. Sensitivity was 0.86 (95% confidence limits, 0.57-0.98) and specificity was 1.0 (95% confidence limits, 0.82-1.0) in 33 patients who had scintigraphy and endoscopy performed in succession. Abdominal scintigraphy appears to be a valuable supplement to conventional diagnostic methods. In upper gastrointestinal bleeding, scintigraphy should be considered when endoscopy fails. In lower intestinal bleeding, scintigraphy should be the method of choice.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004724:Endoscopy; D004912:Erythrocytes; D005260:Female; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D012709:Serum Albumin; D013667:Technetium; D013668:Technetium Tc 99m Aggregated Albumin
D012709:Serum Albumin; D013668:Technetium Tc 99m Aggregated Albumin; D013667:Technetium