Published in:
01-01-2004 | Image of the Month
99mTc-labelled heat-denatured erythrocyte SPET-CT matching to differentiate accessory spleen from tumour recurrence
Authors:
Renato A. Valdés Olmos, Simon Horenblas, Marina Kartachova, Cornelis A. Hoefnagel, Ferida Sivro, Philippe C. Baars
Published in:
European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
|
Issue 1/2004
Login to get access
Excerpt
Selective spleen imaging using technetium-99m labelled heat-denatured autologous red blood cells has been used for various clinical applications [
1]. Recently we utilised this technique in a 61-year-old patient with a history of left nephrectomy, due to a renal cell carcinoma, followed by postoperative intra-abdominal abscess leading to drainage and splenectomy. Two years after surgery, a CT of the abdomen (
A) demonstrated a solid mass in the left renal space suspected to represent tumour recurrence (
arrow). In order to exclude ectopic spleen tissue in this area, scintigraphy using
99mTc-labelled heat-denatured erythrocytes was performed. Planar images (
B) showed focal uptake in the left upper abdomen suggestive of accessory spleen. After matching of SPET (
C) with CT, the area of intense
99mTc-labelled heat-denatured erythrocyte uptake was seen at the location of the solid mass in the left renal space (
D). Ectopic splenic tissue simulating abdominal tumours may be observed in cancer patients and the use of SPET with
99mTc-labelled heat-denatured red blood cells combined with CT can be helpful to elucidate this clinical dilemma. …