THE VALUE OF GA-67-CITRATE SCANNING IN PSOAS ABSCESS

Psoas abscess is a serious health problem which presents with non-spec ific symptoms and signs. To reduce morbidity and mortality, it is impo rtant to diagnose the presence and extent of a psoas abscess accuratel y using imaging studies. Because the Ga-67 scan may facilitate the ear ly diagnosis of insidious infection and assist CT-guided percutaneous drainage of the abscess, we examined the value of Ga-67 scans in 18 pa tients with psoas abscess. The imaging results of Ga-67 scans (18 pati ents), computed tomography (CT) (16 patients) and bone scans (13 patie nts) were analysed. In this series, concomitant infections were very c ommon (94%) in patients with psoas abscess. For detecting psoas absces s, the sensitivity of Ga-67 scanning (92%) and CT (91%) was similar. H owever, 67 Ga scanning is superior to CT in demonstrating concomitant infectious foci at other sites. Bone scanning is a sensitive tool for depicting osteomyelitis, which was common in this series of patients. We also found that increased vascularity in the psoas area was demonst rated by three-phase bone scanning in 60% of patients.