Radionuclide Evaluation of the Lower Gastrointestinal Tract
Giuliano Mariani 1*,
Ernest K.J. Pauwels 2,
Abedallatif AlSharif 1,
Santino Marchi 3,
Giuseppe Boni 1,
Marco Barreca 4,
Massimo Bellini 3,
Mariano Grosso 1,
Nicola de Bortoli 3,
Gloria Mumolo 3,
Francesco Costa 3,
Domenico Rubello 5,
and
H. William Strauss 6
1 Regional Center of Nuclear Medicine, University of Pisa Medical School, Pisa, Italy
2 Regional Center of Nuclear Medicine, University of Pisa Medical School, Pisa, Italy; 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
6 Division of Nuclear Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: g.mariani{at}med.unipi.it.
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Abstract |
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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
