99mTc-labelled red blood cell single-photon emission computed tomography for the diagnosis and follow-up of juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma.
OBJECTIVE
To confirm the usefulness of blood pool scintigraphy with Tc-labelled red blood cells ((99m)Tc-RBCs) in the diagnosis and follow-up of juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma.


METHODS
A prospective study design was used. (99m)Tc-RBCs were prepared by a modified in-vivo method. After the rapid intravenous injection of 370-740 MBq of (99m)Tc-RBCs, dynamic imaging of 1-min duration was performed. After dynamic imaging, static acquisitions at 5 min (second phase: blood pool phase) and 2 h (third phase: static image) were obtained. In addition, single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging was performed at 2 h. SPECT images were obtained using a rotating gamma camera (GE-Starcam 4000 XR/T).


RESULTS
All patients showed no activity in the first phase and mild activity in the second phase (blood pool phase). All patients with juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma showed a prominent increased activity in the third phase and in SPECT images.


CONCLUSIONS
This study shows that blood pool scintigraphy with (99m)Tc-RBC SPECT is very accurate, easy to perform and a suitable alternative to pre-operative and post-operative imaging techniques, including computed tomography scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and MRI angiography, for the detection of juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma.
Uslu
Celil
C
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Haydarpasa Numune Hospital for Research and Education, Istanbul, Turkey. celiluslu@hotmail.com
Yildirim
Mustafa
M
Uslu
Hatice
H
Sutbeyaz
Yavuz
Y
Varoglu
Erhan
E
Seven
Bedri
B
Yildirim
Umran
U
Kantarci
Mecit
M
D000293:Adolescent; D018322:Angiofibroma / Q000098:blood supply / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002648:Child; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013667:Technetium; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000379:methods*
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D013667:Technetium