RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Radionuclide Evaluation of the Lower Gastrointestinal Tract
JF Journal of Nuclear Medicine
JO J Nucl Med
FD Society of Nuclear Medicine
SP 776
OP 787
DO 10.2967/jnumed.107.040113
VO 49
IS 5
A1 Mariani, Giuliano
A1 Pauwels, Ernest K.J.
A1 AlSharif, Abedallatif
A1 Marchi, Santino
A1 Boni, Giuseppe
A1 Barreca, Marco
A1 Bellini, Massimo
A1 Grosso, Mariano
A1 de Bortoli, Nicola
A1 Mumolo, Gloria
A1 Costa, Francesco
A1 Rubello, Domenico
A1 Strauss, H. William
YR 2008
UL http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/49/5/776.abstract
AB 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.