Radionuclide evaluation of the lower gastrointestinal tract.
This review outlines the technical aspects and diagnostic performance parameters of nuclear medicine procedures used on patients with disorders of the lower gastrointestinal tract, with the exclusion of techniques using tumor-seeking radiopharmaceuticals. Chronic disorders of the lower gastrointestinal tract often reduce the quality of life because of discomfort from constipation or diarrhea. Five classes of radionuclide procedures are used to characterize these disorders: transit scintigraphy, searches for ectopic gastric mucosa in Meckel's diverticulum, scintigraphy of active inflammatory bowel disease, scintigraphic defecography, and scintigraphy to detect sites of gastrointestinal bleeding. Protocols for these procedures and their relative merit in patient management are discussed, with special emphasis on their potential for semiquantitative assessment of the pathophysiologic parameter investigated. Quantitation is particularly relevant for prognostic purposes and for monitoring the efficacy of therapy.
Mariani
Giuliano
G
Regional Center of Nuclear Medicine, University of Pisa Medical School, Pisa, Italy. g.mariani@med.unipi.it
Pauwels
Ernest K J
EK
AlSharif
Abedallatif
A
Marchi
Santino
S
Boni
Giuseppe
G
Barreca
Marco
M
Bellini
Massimo
M
Grosso
Mariano
M
de Bortoli
Nicola
N
Mumolo
Gloria
G
Costa
Francesco
F
Rubello
Domenico
D
Strauss
H William
HW
D003248:Constipation / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D019841:Defecography; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D041741:Lower Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging / Q000379:methods*