Relative decreased splenic uptake of Tc-99m-sulfur colloid in patients with pancreatic carcinoma

Relative spleen/liver activity ratio was determined from posterior projection images using a photodensitometric method. Ratios from scans of 22 patients with proven pancreatic carcinoma (12 from rectilinear scans and 10 from scintillation camera images) were determined and compared to studies from patients documented as normal and to randomly selected liver/spleen imaging studies which had been previously interpreted as normal. The mean ratio from the pancreatic carcinoma group was significantly lower than the means of the respective normal groups (p[t] less than .0001 for rectilinear scans and p[t] less than .001 for scintigrams). There was no significant difference between the means of the proven normal and randomly selected normal groups or between the two pancreatic carcinoma groups. Splenic vascular alteration is discussed as a possible reason for decreased splenic distribution of Tc-99m-sulfur colloid in this patient group.