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Usefulness of Gallium-67-Citrate Scans in Patients with Acute Disseminated Tuberculosis and Comparison with Chest X-rays

Department of Nuclear Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China

Correspondence: For correspondence and reprints contact: Chia-Hung Kao, MD, Dept. of Nuclear Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, 160 Taichung Harbor Rd., Section 3, Taichung 40705, Taiwan, Republic of China.

ABSTRACT

Sixteen patients (4 females, 12 males; ages: 15–80 yr) were admitted to our hospital and diagnosed as having acute disseminated tuberculosis (TB). Gallium-67-citrate scans and chest x-rays were used to localize the TB. The results revealed that: (1) most patients had an underlying disease (malignancy or immunocompromise); (2) gallium lung scans demonstrated multiple patterns from a negative picture to greater than liver uptake (localized or diffuse); (3) the extrapulmonary TB focus could be clearly visualized by whole-body gallium scans; (4) most chest x-rays had a military pattern and few cases were negative or localized. A combination examination, including gallium scans and chest x-rays, is needed to avoid missing early diagnosis of acute disseminated tuberculosis, especially in high risk group patients.