[Effectiveness of (67)Ga scintigraphy in the diagnosis of lymphoma relapse].
OBJECTIVE
To establish the clinical effectiveness of 67Ga in lymphoma recurrence.


METHODS
Thirty-nine patients were assessed on 43 occasions (31 for Hodgkin's disease and 12 for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma) either for a suspected recurrence or to monitor the evolution of the disease. A computed tomography (CT) and a 67Ga whole body scan were performed. Independent observers who did not know the definitive diagnosis performed the CT and 67Ga readings. The gold standard was the biopsy results or the follow-up during a 12 months period.


RESULTS
Recurrence was confirmed in 17 cases, while 26 continued to have complete remission. Using 67Ga resulted in true positive (TP), 24 true negative (TN), 2 false positive (FP) and 2 false negative (FN) results with a sensitivity of 0.88 (15/17), specificity of 0.92 (24/26), positive predictive value (PPV) of 0.88 (15/17) and negative predictive value (NPV) of 0.92 (24/26), while CT produced 12 TP, 20 TN, 6 FP and 5 FN, with a sensitivity of 0.7 (12/17), specificity of 0.77 (20/26), PPV of 0.88 (12/18) and NPV of 0.92 (20/25).


CONCLUSIONS
67Ga is a useful indicator and has better diagnostic effectiveness than CT for both the confirmation and exclusion of lymphoma recurrence.
Alvarez Ruiz
S
S
Servicio de Medicina Nuclear, Hospital Santiago Apóstol, Vitoria, Spain. salvarez@hsan.osakidetza.net
Rodeño Ortiz De Zárate
E
E
Alonso Colmenares
I
I
Cortés Hernández
J
J
Alcorta
P
P
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002951:Citrates; D018450:Disease Progression; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005708:Gallium; D005710:Gallium Radioisotopes; D006801:Humans; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
D002951:Citrates; D005710:Gallium Radioisotopes; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D005708:Gallium; C103850:gallium citrate