technetium-tc-99m-gluceptate and Vesico-Ureteral-Reflux

Comparative clinical studies have shown renal cortical scintigraphy, using technetium-99m (99mTc)-labeled glucoheptonate or dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA), to be significantly more sensitive than either intravenous pyelography or renal sonography in the diagnosis of acute pyelonephritis. However, due to uncertainties about the diagnostic accuracy of the clinical and laboratory parameters used in these studies, true sensitivity of renal cortical scintigraphy was unknown. Therefore, we evaluated the accuracy of [99mTc]DMSA scintigraphy in the diagnosis of experimentally induced acute pyelonephritis in piglets using strict histopathologic criteria as the standard of reference. The sensitivity and specificity of the DMSA scan for the diagnosis of acute pyelonephritis were 91% and 99%, respectively, with an overall 97% agreement between the scintigraphic and histopathologic findings. Based on the results of this experimental study, we used the [99mTc]DMSA scan as the standard of reference for the diagnosis of acute pyelonephritis, and conducted a prospective clinical study of 94 children hospitalized with the diagnosis of acute febrile urinary tract infection (UTI). The aims of this study were (1) to determine the relationship among vesicoureteral reflux, P-fimbriated Escherichia coli, acute pyelonephritis, and renal scarring, and (2) to evaluate the diagnostic reliability of the clinical and laboratory parameters commonly used in the diagnosis of acute pyelonephritis. We documented acute pyelonephritis in 62 (66%) of 94 patients. Vesicoureteral reflux was demonstrated in 29 (31%) of the total group and in only 23 (37%) of 62 patients with acute pyelonephritis. The prevalence of P-fimbriae in the E coli isolates was 64% in the patients with acute pyelonephritis and 78% in those with a normal DMSA scan. Even in patients without reflux, P-fimbriae were found in 71% of isolates from the patients with acute pyelonephritis and in 75% of those with a normal renal scan. Follow-up DMSA scans were obtained in 33 patients with acute pyelonephritis in 38 kidneys. We found complete resolution of the acute inflammatory changes in 58% of the involved kidneys and renal scarring in the remaining 42%, including 40% of the kidneys associated with reflux and 43% of those without reflux.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Topics: Acute Disease; Animals; Humans; Kidney Cortex; Organotechnetium Compounds; Pyelonephritis; Radionuclide Imaging; Succimer; Sugar Acids; Technetium Tc 99m Dimercaptosuccinic Acid; Vesico-Ureteral Reflux

This article describes the role of nuclear medicine in the evaluation of the genitourinary tract. The technical aspects of radionuclide imaging (radiopharmaceuticals, radiation dosimetry, instrumentation, and method) are briefly presented, and each of the indications for renal scintigraphy--including the evaluation of differential renal function, hypertension, obstruction, renal transplants, masses, trauma, congenital anomalies, vesicoureteral reflux, and infection--are discussed. The relative advantages and disadvantages of radionuclide imaging with respect to alternative radiographic examinations (such as intravenous urography, ultrasonography, CT, angiography, and magnetic resonance imaging) are emphasized wherever applicable.

Topics: Graft Rejection; Humans; Hypertension, Renovascular; Iodohippuric Acid; Kidney; Kidney Function Tests; Kidney Neoplasms; Kidney Transplantation; Kidney Tubular Necrosis, Acute; Male; Organotechnetium Compounds; Pentetic Acid; Postoperative Complications; Pyelonephritis; Radioisotope Renography; Spermatic Cord Torsion; Succimer; Sugar Acids; Technetium; Technetium Tc 99m Dimercaptosuccinic Acid; Technetium Tc 99m Pentetate; Ureteral Obstruction; Urinary Tract; Vesico-Ureteral Reflux

Topics: Child; Child, Preschool; Diagnostic Imaging; Female; Humans; Infant; Male; Organotechnetium Compounds; Pyelonephritis; Radioisotope Renography; Succimer; Sugar Acids; Technetium Tc 99m Dimercaptosuccinic Acid; Urinary Tract Infections; Vesico-Ureteral Reflux

Infection is the most common disease of the urinary tract in children, and various imaging techniques have been used to verify its presence and location. On retrospective analysis, 50 consecutive children with documented upper urinary tract infection had abnormal findings on renal cortical scintigraphy with 99mTc-glucoheptonate. The infection involved the renal poles only in 38 and the poles plus other renal cortical areas in eight. Four had abnormalities that spared the poles. Renal sonograms were abnormal in 32 of 50 children. Excretory urograms were abnormal in six of 23 children in whom they were obtained. Vesicoureteral reflux was found in 34 of 40 children in whom voiding cystourethrography was performed. These data show the high sensitivity of renal cortical scintigraphy with 99mTc-glucoheptonate in documenting upper urinary tract infection. The location of the abnormalities detected suggests that renal infections spread via an ascending mode and implies that intrarenal reflux is a major contributing factor.

Topics: Acute Disease; Adolescent; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Humans; Infant; Kidney Diseases; Male; Organotechnetium Compounds; Radionuclide Imaging; Retrospective Studies; Sugar Acids; Technetium; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Ultrasonography; Urinary Tract Infections; Urography; Vesico-Ureteral Reflux

Major advances in nuclear medicine instrumentation and radiopharmaceuticals for renal studies have occurred during the last decade. Current nuclear medicine methodology can be applied for accurate evaluation of renal function and for renal imaging in a wide variety of clinical situations. Total renal function can be estimated from the plasma clearance of agents excreted by glomerular filtration or tubular secretion, and individual function can be estimated by imaging combined with renography. A major area of radionuclide application is in the evaluation of obstructive uropathy. The introduction of diuretic renography and the use of computer-generated regions of interest offer the clinician added useful data which may aid in diagnosis and management. Imaging is of proven value also in trauma, renovascular hypertension, and acute and chronic renal failure. Methods for the evaluation of residual urine, vesicoureteral reflux, and testicular torsion have achieved increasing clinical use. These many procedures assure a meaningful and useful role for the application of nuclear medicine in genitourinary imaging.

Topics: Adult; Female; Humans; Infant; Iodohippuric Acid; Kidney Failure, Chronic; Male; Middle Aged; Organotechnetium Compounds; Pentetic Acid; Radioisotope Renography; Spermatic Cord Torsion; Succimer; Sugar Acids; Technetium; Technetium Tc 99m Dimercaptosuccinic Acid; Technetium Tc 99m Pentetate; Ureteral Obstruction; Urinary Tract Infections; Urologic Diseases; Vesico-Ureteral Reflux