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The Role of Ga-67 Citrate Imaging and Diagnostic Ultrasound in Patients with Suspected Abdominal Abscesses

Bharath Kumar^*, Philip O. Alderson and Guillermo Geisse

Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, St. Louis, Missouri

Correspondence: For reprints contact: Guillermo Geisse, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, 510 South Kingshighway, St. Louis, MO 63110.

ABSTRACT

Fifty patients with suspected abdominal abscesses were examined by [⁶⁷Ga] Gallium citrate imaging and abdominal sonography. Fifteen of the patients had a proven intra-abdominal abscess; Gallium-67 images were positive in 13 (87%), while the sonogram detected the abscess in 11 (73%). Nineteen patients had true-negative radionuclide images and sonography, and one had a false-positive result by both procedures. The remaining 15 patients did not have abdominal abscesses, but did have other abnormalities (e.g., pyelonephritis, extra-abdominal sites of inflammation) which were detected by the nuclide study. Gallium-67 imaging and abdominal ultrasound have similar sensitivity for detection of abdominal abscesses. A significant advantage of Gallium imaging is its ability to detect other inflammatory foci (both within and outside the abdomen).

FOOTNOTES

^* Present address: Howard University Hospital, Washington, DC 20060.

Present address: Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD 21205.