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
Ch. Kao et al., 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, RESPIRATION, 66(1), 1999, pp. 46-51
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.