Using Tc-99m-DTPA radioaerosol inhalation lung scintigraphies to detect the lung injury induced by consuming Sauropus androgynus vegetable and comparison with conventional pulmonary function tests

Consuming Sauropus androgynus, a Malaysian plant, to reduce body weight beg an to become fashionable in Taiwan in 1994. According to some reports, peop le consuming this vegetable developed lung injuries. From July to November 1995, there were 81 nonsmoking women admitted to our hospital. Thirty-six c ases had respiratory symptoms/signs and the remaining 45 had no symptoms/si gns. We investigated these patients with pulmonary function tests (PFT) and technetium-99m DTPA radioaerosol inhalation lung scintigraphies (DTPA lung scan), a test to evaluate the lung ventilation and alveolar epithelial per meability. Eighteen patients had abnormal results in PFT, including obstruc tive type (n = 17), restrictive type (n = 5), and both (n = 4). There were 33 patients with abnormalities in DTPA lung scans, including unhomogeneous deposition of DTPA radioaerosols (n = 19), faster clearance of radioaerosol s from lung (n = 26), and both (n = 12). Analyzing the results, we found th at the patients with respiratory symptoms had a higher incidence of abnorma l results of PFT and DTPA lung scans than the patients without respiratory symptoms (p < 0.05). Besides, we found that the DTPA lung scan was more sen sitive than chest x-ray and PFT in detecting the lung injuries related to t he consumption of S. androgynus (p < 0.05). Consuming S. androgynus can res ult in symptomatic or asymptomatic lung injuries, manifested as obstructive or restrictive ventilatory impairment, unhomogeneous radioaerosol distribu tion, and increased alveolar epithelial permeability. In addition, measurem ent of the Tc-99m-DTPA clearance is the most sensitive test to detect the l ung injuries caused by consuming S. androgynus.