title: Salivary gland scintigraphy in Sjögren's syndrome. Comparison of the diagnostic performance of visual and semiquantitative analysis.
abstract: The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic utility of visual versus semi-quantitative analysis of salivary gland scintigraphy in the diagnosis of Sjögren's syndrome (SS).
  
  
  METHODS
  99mTc-pertechnetate salivary gland scintigraphy was performed in 145 patients (133 women, 12 men) with clinically suspicious SS. The images were interpreted with visual and semiquantitative methods and the diagnostic performances for SS were compared using uptake and excretory functional parameters.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 76 patients (52.4%) were finally diagnosed with SS. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy of visual analysis for the diagnosis of SS were 88.2%, 48.6%, 65.1%, 79.1%, and 69.2%, respectively. Semiquantitative values, the area under the ROC curve for uptake ratio and percentage excretion in the right salivary glands were signiﬁcantly greater than 0.5 (p < 0.05). However, the percentage excretion in the left salivary glands did not show a statistically significant diagnostic ability for SS. The diagnostic ability of visual assessment was greater than that of the semiquantitative method in terms of evaluating uptake and excretory function in the submandibular glands.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Visual analysis of salivary gland scintigraphy showed greater diagnostic utility than semiquantitative assessment in the diagnosis of SS, especially in the submandibular glands.
authors.forename: H-A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: S-H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: J-K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Jo
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: C-H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Suh
authors.affiliation: Young-Sil An, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, School of Medicine, Ajou University, Woncheon-dong, Yeongtong-gu, Gyeonggi-do, Suwon, Korea 443-749, Tel. +82/31/219-5948, Fax +82/31/219-5950, E-mail: aysays77@naver.com.
authors.forename: Y-S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: An
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012469:Salivary Glands / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D013670:Sodium Pertechnetate Tc 99m; D014987:Xerostomia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D013670:Sodium Pertechnetate Tc 99m
keywords: Sjögren’s syndrome; salivary gland; salivary gland scintigraphy