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First published online April 15, 2008, 10.2967/jnumed.107.040113
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Journal of Nuclear Medicine Vol. 49 No. 5 776-787
© 2008 by Society of Nuclear Medicine
doi: 10.2967/jnumed.107.040113

Continuing Education

Radionuclide Evaluation of the Lower Gastrointestinal Tract*

Giuliano Mariani1, Ernest K.J. Pauwels1,2, Abedallatif AlSharif1, Santino Marchi3, Giuseppe Boni1, Marco Barreca4, Massimo Bellini3, Mariano Grosso1, Nicola de Bortoli3, Gloria Mumolo3, Francesco Costa3, Domenico Rubello5 and H. William Strauss6

1 Regional Center of Nuclear Medicine, University of Pisa Medical School, Pisa, Italy; 2 Department of Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands; 3 Gastroenterology Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Pisa Medical School, Pisa, Italy; 4 Fourth Division of General Surgery, "S. Chiara" University Hospital, Pisa, Italy; 5 PET Center, Nuclear Medicine Service, "S. Maria della Misericordia" Hospital, Rovigo, Italy; and 6 Division of Nuclear Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York

Correspondence: For correspondence or reprints contact: Giuliano Mariani, Regional Center of Nuclear Medicine, University of Pisa Medical School, Via Roma 67, I-56126 Pisa, Italy. E-mail: g.mariani{at}med.unipi.it

This review outlines the technical aspects and diagnostic performance parameters of nuclear medicine procedures used on patients with disorders of the lower gastrointestinal tract, with the exclusion of techniques using tumor-seeking radiopharmaceuticals. Chronic disorders of the lower gastrointestinal tract often reduce the quality of life because of discomfort from constipation or diarrhea. Five classes of radionuclide procedures are used to characterize these disorders: transit scintigraphy, searches for ectopic gastric mucosa in Meckel's diverticulum, scintigraphy of active inflammatory bowel disease, scintigraphic defecography, and scintigraphy to detect sites of gastrointestinal bleeding. Protocols for these procedures and their relative merit in patient management are discussed, with special emphasis on their potential for semiquantitative assessment of the pathophysiologic parameter investigated. Quantitation is particularly relevant for prognostic purposes and for monitoring the efficacy of therapy.

Key Words: gastrointestinal • GI • radionuclide • transit scintigraphy

* NOTE: FOR CE CREDIT, YOU CAN ACCESS THIS ACTIVITY THROUGH THE SNM WEB SITE (http://www.snm.org/ce_online) THROUGH MAY 2009.

No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

COPYRIGHT © 2008 by the Society of Nuclear Medicine, Inc.


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