title: Technological value of SPECT/CT fusion imaging for the diagnosis of lower gastrointestinal bleeding.
abstract: The aim of this study was to assess the clinical value of diagnosing and locating lower gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/computed tomography (CT) fusion imaging with 99mTc labeled red blood cells ((99m)Tc-RBC). Fifty-six patients with suspected lower GI bleeding received a preoperative intravenous injection of (99m)Tc-RBC and each underwent planar, SPECT/CT imaging of the lower abdominal region. The location and path of lower GI bleeding were diagnosed by contrastive analysis of planar and SPECT/CT fusion imaging. Among the 56 patients selected, there were abnormalities in concentrated radionuclide activity with planar imaging in 50 patients and in SPECT/CT fusion imaging in 52 patients. Moreover, bleeding points that were coincident with the surgical results were evident with planar imaging in 31 patients and with SPECT/CT fusion imaging in 48 patients. The diagnostic sensitivity of planar imaging and SPECT/CT fusion imaging were 89.3% (50/56) and 92.9% (52/56), respectively, and the difference was not statistically significant (χ(2) = 0.11, P > 0.05). The corresponding positional accuracy values were 73.8% (31/42) and 92.3% (48/52), and the difference was statistically significant (χ(2) = 4.63, P < 0.05). (99m)Tc- RBC SPECT/CT fusion imaging is an effective, simple, and accurate method that can be used for diagnosing and locating lower GI bleeding.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area Command, Shenyang, China.
authors.forename: Z G
authors.initials: ZG
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area Command, Shenyang, China guoxuzhangcn@163.com.
authors.forename: G X
authors.initials: GX
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area Command, Shenyang, China.
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area Command, Shenyang, China.
authors.forename: W W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area Command, Shenyang, China.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area Command, Shenyang, China.
authors.forename: Z P
authors.initials: ZP
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area Command, Shenyang, China.
authors.forename: R X
authors.initials: RX
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000379:methods*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult