RENAL HEMORRHAGE DETECTION WITH TC-99M LABELED ERTHROCYTES IN A PATIENT WITH POLYCYSTIC DISEASE

A 47-year-old man with polycystic kidney disease, who was on hemodialy sis for several years, presented with gross hematuria. Although radion uclide imaging is successfully used to detect minimal gastrointestinal bleeding with Tc-99m labeled RBCs, this technique is not usually appl ied to the evaluation of genitourinary bleeding because there is some excretion of free pertechnetate by the kidneys. The authors report the successful identification of a renal hemorrhage in a patient with pol ycystic kidneys using labeled RBC scintigraphy. This finding is import ant because it guided the surgeon to remove the appropriate kidney.