The insensitivity of 99mTc pertechnetate imaging for Kaposi's sarcoma

A total of 13 technetium 99m (99mTc) pertechnetate image studies were performed on 7 patients with a histologic diagnosis of Kaposi's sarcoma. Five patients with peripheral edema had diffusely increased radionuclide activity in the same areas. The two patients without edema had normal radionuclide images. The primary cutaneous lesions were only identified in one of the patients. These findings suggest that previously reported "occult metastasis" are probably due to peripheral edema in most patients; therefore, the radionuclide study has a much lower sensitivity than has been previously reported.