Detection of Infections with Gallium-67 and Scintigraphic Imaging

Abstract

Thirty patients who were suspected, on the basis of clinical evidence, of having deep infections were scanned after gallium-67 (67Ga) was administered intravenously. 67Ga normally concentrates in the spleen, liver, axial skeleton, and nasopharyngeal region. The rectilinear scanner provides the best images, especially in the abdomen where diagnosis is occasionally hampered by excretion of 67Ga into the gastrointestinal tract. 67Ga scans delineated infections in 21 of the 28 patients subsequently proven to have infections. Eleven of thirteen abdominal abscesses were detected, even when other radiographic contrast methods failed. Some of these latter patients were postoperative cases or had cancer. 67Ga scans directly contributed to an earlier diagnosis of these infections and aided medical and surgical therapeutic decisions. These results indicate that 67Ga scanning appears to be a safe, accurate, and noninvasive technique for detection of a variety of infectious processes.