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Splenic Scintigraphy Using Tc-99m-Labeled Heat-Denatured Red Blood Cells in Pediatric Patients: Concise Communication

The Children's Hospital Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York

Correspondence: For reprints contact: Nicholas Papanicolaou, MD, Div. of Nuclear Medicine, Children's Hospital Medical Center, 300 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02115.

ABSTRACT

Ten children underwent splenic imaging with heat-denatured red blood cells labeled with technetium-99m (Tc-99m DRBC). The presenting problems included the heterotaxia syndrome, recurrent idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura following splenectomy, mass in the left posterior hemithorax, and blunt abdominal trauma. In nine patients, the presence or absence of splenic tissue was established. A splenic hematoma was identified in the tenth patient. All patients were initially scanned with Tc-99m sulfur colloid (Tc-99m SC), and were selected for Tc-99m DRBC scintigraphy only after the results of the SC scans failed to establish the clinical problem beyond doubt. The availability of kits containing stannous ions, essential for efficient and stable labeling of red blood cells with Tc-99m and requiring only a small volume of blood, make splenic scintigraphy in children a relatively simple and definitive diagnostic procedure, when identification of splenic tissue is of clinical importance.