Limitations of renal function scanning in acute obstruction

This study was designed to determine if technetium-99m penicillamine (TPEN), could be used to predict recoverable function in dogs with acute obstruction. Renal accumulation of TPEN was measured in four control dogs, in four dogs with acute obstruction lasting 7-14 days, and in the same four dogs following a variable recovery period of 15-63 days. The relative renal uptake of TPEN in vivo showed good agreement with the relative uptake in vitro and both measurements correlated closely with the relative inulin clearances in the normal and in the post obstructed kidneys. The uptake of TPEN in the obstructed kidney following 7-14 days of obstruction averaged 6.8% of the total renal uptake. After relief of the obstruction and a variable recovery period the relative uptake of TPEN in the post obstructed kidney had increased to a mean of 29.5%. These results indicate that TPEN scans should not be used during acute obstruction to predict recoverable function. The observations noted in the study almost certainly apply to similar chelating agents such as dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) and probably to other renal radiopharmaceuticals as well.