Technetium-99m red blood cell venography in patients with clinically suspected deep vein thrombosis: a prospective study

Journal Article · Thu Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1988 · J. Nucl. Med.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6746068

Leclerc, J R; Wolfson, C; Arzoumanian, A; Blake, G P; Rosenthall, L

We have compared technetium-99m (99mTc) red blood cell (RBC) venography to serial impedance plethysmography (IPG) in 110 consecutive patients with a first episode of clinically suspected deep vein thrombosis (DVT). IPG was performed at Day 0 and, if abnormal, contrast venography was also performed to rule out a falsely positive result. Patients with an initially normal IPG had the test repeated at Days 1, 3, 5 to 7, and 10 to 14. Contrast venography was not performed and anticoagulant treatment was withheld in all patients who remained normal during repeated IPG testing. Technetium-99m RBC venography was performed at Day 0 in patients with an initially abnormal IPG and during the period of serial IPG testing in those with an initially normal IPG. The sensitivity of (99mTc)RBC venography for proximal DVT was 0.68, with 95% confidence limits (CL) from 0.48 to 0.89. Specificity was 0.88 (95% CL from 0.81 to 0.95). When the findings of (99mTc)RBC venography for the entire lower extremity were compared to the reference method, the sensitivity increased to 0.90 (95% CL from 0.82 to 0.97) but the specificity decreased to 0.56 (95% CL from 0.51 to 0.62). Technetium-99m RBC venography is a sensitive but less specific method for detecting DVT of the entire lower extremity. An abnormal (99mTc)RBC venogram, particularly in the calf region, should always be confirmed by another diagnostic method.

• Research Organization: Montreal General Hospital (Canada)
• OSTI ID: 6746068
• Journal Information: J. Nucl. Med.; (United States), Journal Name: J. Nucl. Med.; (United States) Vol. 29:9; ISSN JNMEA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550601* -- Medicine-- Unsealed Radionuclides in Diagnostics
62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BIOMEDICAL RADIOGRAPHY
BLOOD
BLOOD CELLS
BLOOD VESSELS
BODY
BODY FLUIDS
CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES
CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM
DIAGNOSIS
DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES
DISEASES
ERYTHROCYTES
HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOMERIC NUCLEI
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LABELLING
MATERIALS
MEDICINE
NUCLEAR MEDICINE
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ORGANS
PATIENTS
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIOLOGY
SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS
SPECIFICITY
TECHNETIUM 99
TECHNETIUM ISOTOPES
THROMBOSIS
VASCULAR DISEASES
VEINS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES