Comparison of technetium-99m methoxyisobutylisonitrile and gallium-67 citrate scanning in the assessment of lymphomas

Eur J Nucl Med. 1995 Feb;22(2):126-31. doi: 10.1007/BF00838942.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare the value of scintigraphy using technetium-99m methoxyisobutylisonitrile (MIBI) with that of scintigraphy using gallium-67 citrate in the assessment of Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and to relate these results with those of CT scan and MRI. Fifty-eight patients were included either for a follow-up examination or for monitoring of their treatment. Twenty-three residual masses were studied. A whole-body scan was performed, followed by single-photon emission computed tomography (SPET) 20 min after injection of 740 MBq of 99mTc-MIBI and 72 h after injection of 185 MBq of 67Ga citrate. The overall sensitivity of 99mTc-MIBI and 67Ga citrate was 71% and 68%, respectively, and the overall specificity was 76% and 44%, respectively. For residual masses, the sensitivity was 44% with both tracers and the specificity was 80% with 99mTc-MIBI and 53% with 67Ga citrate. The positive predictive values were 85% and 68% and the negative predictive values were 59% and 44%, respectively. The signal-to-background ratio was 1.5 for 99mTc-MIBI and 2 for 67Ga citrate. At present, 99mTc-MIBI cannot replace 67Ga citrate in the assessment of lymphomas.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Biopsy
  • Citrates*
  • Citric Acid
  • Female
  • Gallium Radioisotopes*
  • Hodgkin Disease / diagnosis
  • Hodgkin Disease / diagnostic imaging*
  • Humans
  • Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / diagnosis
  • Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / diagnostic imaging*
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Technetium Tc 99m Sestamibi*
  • Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Substances

  • Citrates
  • Gallium Radioisotopes
  • Citric Acid
  • Technetium Tc 99m Sestamibi