[Imaging of early carotid artery atherosclerotic lesions with 111In-labeled polyelonalhuman IgG (HIG)]
H Kritz1, M Rodrigues, H Sinzinger
1Universitätsklinik für Nuklearmedizin, Wien, Osterreich. Helmut.Sinzinger@akh-wien.ac.at
Aim:
To assess the value of scintigraphy with 111In-HIG for diagnosis and evaluation of the stage and the clinical extent of carotid artery disease in humans a prospective clinical comparative trial of scintigraphy vs. sonography was performed.
Methods:
58 patients (38 male, 20 female; mean age 60 +/- 7 years) with hyperlipidemia and ultrasonographically detectable carotid artery lesions were studied. After i.v. injection of 18.5 MBq 111In-HIG, anterior scintigraphic images of the neck were acquired. Real time two-dimensional B-mode ultrasonography of the left and the right carotid arteries was performed.
Results:
111In-HIG-scintigraphy as compared to the morphological gold standard (ultrasonography) had a sensitivity of 70-73%, specificity of 33-41% and a positive predictive value of 77-82% for detecting carotid atherosclerotic lesions. There was, however, no significant correlation between scintigraphy and ultrasonography.
Conclusion:
However, the data provide evidence that the two imaging techniques are visualizing different aspects of atherogenesis. On the one hand a functional one reflecting the activity of the disease (111In-HIG) and on the other hand the morphological one resembling the extent of the disease (ultrasonography).
