technetium-tc-99m-gluceptate and Pulmonary-Eosinophilia

A patient with chronic eosinophilic pneumonia was evaluated using bronchoalveolar lavage, technetium-99m glucoheptonate, and transbronchial lung biopsy. Bronchoalveolar lavage revealed 43 percent eosinophils and correlated well with results of transbronchial lung biopsy. Technetium-99m glucoheptonate lung imaging demonstrated intense parenchymal uptake. After eight weeks of corticosteroid therapy, the bronchoalveolar lavage eosinophil population and the technetium-99m glucoheptonate uptake had returned to normal. We suggest that bronchoalveolar lavage, with transbronchial lung biopsy, is a less invasive way than open lung biopsy to diagnose chronic eosinophilic pneumonia. The mechanism of uptake of technetium-99m glucoheptonate in this disorder remains to be defined.

Topics: Aged; Bronchi; Humans; Lung; Male; Organotechnetium Compounds; Pulmonary Alveoli; Pulmonary Eosinophilia; Radiography; Radionuclide Imaging; Sugar Acids; Technetium; Therapeutic Irrigation