Assessment of inflammatory bowel disease by using two different (99m)Tc leucocyte labelling methods

Area of Science:

• Nuclear Medicine
• Gastroenterology
• Immunology

Background:

• Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) diagnosis relies on accurate imaging.
• White blood cell (WBC) scintigraphy is a key diagnostic tool for IBD.
• Optimizing WBC labeling media is crucial for diagnostic accuracy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the diagnostic accuracy of technetium-99m hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime (99mTc-HMPAO) WBC scintigraphy.
• To evaluate two different leukocyte resuspension media: leukocyte-poor plasma (LPP) and Hanks' balanced salt solution (HBSS).
• To determine the optimal medium for WBC labeling in suspected active IBD.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 58 patients with suspected active IBD.
• Leukocytes labeled with 99mTc-HMPAO using either LPP or HBSS as resuspension media.
• Scintigraphic imaging performed at 30 minutes and 2 hours post-injection.

Main Results:

• Leukocyte labeling efficiency was significantly higher with HBSS (89.0%) compared to LPP (65.5%).
• Diagnostic accuracy was comparable between LPP and HBSS groups.
• Sensitivity was slightly higher in the HBSS group for detecting active IBD.

Conclusions:

• Leukocyte scintigraphy using HBSS as the resuspension medium is recommended as a preferred method for WBC labeling.
• HBSS offers improved labeling efficiency and potentially higher sensitivity for IBD diagnosis.
• This finding supports the optimization of WBC scintigraphy protocols for enhanced IBD detection.