Tc-99m diphosphonate and sulfur colloid uptake by the spleen in sickle disease: interrelationship and clinical...

To determine the clinical significance of splenic uptake in bone scintigraphy and functional asplenia on the radionuclide liver-spleen image, bone and spleen scintigrams of 38 patients with sickle cell disease were reviewed. Eighteen underwent bone and liver-spleen studies, 15 had only bone images, and five had only liver-spleen studies. Sixteen of 33 who had bone scintigraphy showed splenic uptake, but the frequency of homozygous sickle cell (SS) disease was not greater than heterozygous sickle cell disease (S-hetero) in this group. SS patients with splenic uptake of Tc-99m diphosphonate had significantly fewer painful crises of the abdomen and extremities, and fewer inpatient and outpatient hospital visits than SS patients whose bone imaging did not visualize the spleen. Functional asplenia on liver-spleen images (16 cases) was seen only in SS disease. One SS patient, age 8, still had a spleen capable of phagocytizing colloid.