EVALUATION OF MALIGNANT AND BENIGN LUNG LESIONS WITH TC-99(M)-TETROFOSMIN

Tc-99(m)-tetrofosmin planar imaging was performed in 30 patients with malignant and benign lung lesions. There were 21 cases of primary lung cancer (10 squamous cell, 5 small cell, 4 adenocarcinoma and 2 large cell) and 9 benign lung lesions (4 pneumonia, 3 tuberculosis, 1 infect ed bronchiectasis and 1 bronchiolitis obliterans). Anterior and poster ior planar thorax images were obtained 30 min after the intravenous in jection of 740 MBq (20 mCi) of Tc-99(m)-tetrofosmin. Visual and quanti tative evaluations were performed. For the quantitative evaluation, re gions of interest were drawn over the lesioned area (L) and over the c ontralateral non-lesioned area (N). Of 21 malignant primary lesions; 1 9 (90%) showed Tc-99(m)-tetrofosmin accumulation. Four (44%) of the ni ne benign lung lesions (3 cases of pneumonia and the one case of activ e tuberculosis) showed uptake. The mean L/N ratios for the malignant a nd benign lesions were 1.63 +/- 0.29 and 1.64 +/- 0.19, respectively. There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) in the L/N ratios of the malignant and benign lesions or the various histological types of cancer. In conclusion, Tc-99(m)-tetrofosmin was highly sensitive (90%) in detecting malignant lung lesions, but it had poor specificity (55% ).