Detection of portal blood flow using per-rectal 99mTc-pertechnetate scintigraphy in normal cats

This study reports data obtained from per-rectal 99mTc-pertechnetate portal scintigraphy in normal cats. It examines the effects of chemical restraint and the methods employed in defining regions of interest (ROIs) on the shunt index derived from this data. Six normal cats were used for the study; all six were chemically restrained for imaging using propofol and later four of them were manually restrained for comparison. Portal blood flow was studied and the mean shunt index was found to be 5.9% +/- 3.9 when ROIs were operator defined and 9.2% +/- 4.4 when ROIs were defined using an isocontour program. In cats that were restrained using propofol and operator defined ROIs, the mean value for the time between detection of radioactivity in the liver and in the heart was 14 +/- 1 seconds.