[Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) of the liver with a rotating gamma camera system (author's...

In a total of 202 patients conventional scintigraphy as well as emission computed tomography (SPECT) of the liver were performed. In 123 patients focal lesions could be excluded whereas in 30 cases the presence of liver tumors was verified. In 5 of the respective cases correct diagnosis was only possible by SPECT, in 9 further cases SPECT improved the diagnostic accuracy (topography, size and number of defects). In patients with normal findings of the liver, conventional scintigraphy yielded false-positive findings in 9 cases and SPECT in 7 cases. By combination of both methods the false-positive diagnoses could be reduced to 5. 48 patients had cirrhosis of the liver: in all of them conventional camera scintigraphy was superior to SPECT because of reduced activity accumulation in the liver (insufficient statistics).