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Detection of Esophagitis by ^99mTc-Methoxyisobutylisonitrile Chest SPECT

Department of Nuclear Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung; Department of Nuclear Medicine, Chi-Mei Foundation Hospital, Tainan; Department of Nuclear Medicine, Show-Chwan Memorial Hospital, Changhua; Department of Radiology, Jen-Ai Hospital, Taichung; and Department of Nuclear Medicine, China Medical College Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan

Esophagitis is a common complication of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Unfortunately, an accurate diagnosis of esophagitis usually requires invasive endoscopy. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the use of noninvasive ^99mTc-methoxyisobutylisonitrile (MIBI) chest SPECT to detect esophagitis in GERD patients. Methods: Forty GERD patients who underwent endoscopy for diagnosis and grading of esophagitis according to the Savary–Miller grading system were included in this study. ^99mTc-MIBI chest SPECT was performed on all patients to detect and grade esophagitis. Results: On the basis of the endoscopic findings, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of ^99mTc-MIBI chest SPECT to detect esophagitis were 100%, 77%, and 95%, respectively. The correlation between the Savary–Miller grading system and ^99mTc-MIBI chest SPECT grading was found to be good. Conclusion: Noninvasive ^99mTc-MIBI chest SPECT has excellent sensitivity and good accuracy as a screen for esophagitis.

Key Words: esophagitis • ^99mTc-methoxyisobutylisonitrile • SPECT

Received Dec. 28, 1999; revision accepted May 16, 2000.

For correspondence or reprints contact: Chia-Hung Kao, MD, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, 160 Taichung Harbor Rd., Section 3, Taichung 407, Taiwan.