Menstruation. A hazard in radionuclide renal transplant evaluation

Serial Tc-99m DTPA studies were performed to evaluate renal transplant blood flow and function in a 34-year-old woman. A hypervascular pelvic mass with increased blood pool activity was intermittently identified. This hypervascular lesion suggested a pathologic condition of the pelvis, and its blood pool simulated bladder activity, confusing interpretation of renal function. This perplexing vascular lesion was the uterus, with varying degrees of blood flow and blood pool activity depending on the timing of the renal study in relation to the menstrual cycle.