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The Journal of Nuclear Medicine Vol. 31 No. 4 436-440
© 1990 by Society of Nuclear Medicine
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Extrahepatic Uptake of Technetium-99m-Phytate: A Prognostic Index in Patients with Cirrhosis

Daniel Picard, Claire Infante-Rivard, Jean-Pierre Villeneuve, Raymonde Chartrand, Michel Picard and Lucie Carrier

Division of Nuclear Medicine and Hepatology, Hospital Saint-Luc, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada
School of Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

Correspondence: For reprints contact: Daniel Picard, MD, Nuclear Medicine Service. Hôspital Saint-Luc, 1058 St. Denis St., Montreal (Quebec), H2X 3J4.

ABSTRACT

We examined the usefulness of technetium-99m-phytate (99mTc-phytate) hepatic scintigraphy in the evaluation of hepatic function, and the assessment of prognosis in patients with cirrhosis. Ninety-four patients with biopsy-documented cirrhosis had, at the time of entry into the study, a scintigraphy with 99mTc-phytate complexed with calcium in vivo. Extrahepatic uptake (EHU) of 99mTc-phytate on scintigraphy was graded from 0 (absent EHU)to 5 (important EHU) according to the relative distribution of the radiotracer between the liver, the spleen and the bone marrow. The severity of liver disease was also assessed according to the index of Child and Turcotte as modified by Pugh et al. Mean follow-up was 2 yr. EHU was correlated to the Pugh score (r = 0.73) and to survival. Survival at 2 yr was 97% for an EHU equal or inferior to 2.5, 62% for grades 3–4.5, and 31% for grade 5. In conclusion, hepatic imaging with 99mTc-phytate, in addition to its diagnostic value, also contains valuable prognostic information in patients with cirrhosis.






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Copyright © 1990 by the Society of Nuclear Medicine.