FOLLOW-UP OF PATIENTS WITH SUPERIOR VENA-CAVA SYNDROME BY FUNCTIONAL-ANALYSIS OF RADIONUCLIDE VENOGRAPHY

In addition to imaging, radionuclide venography can be used for studyi ng haemodynamic changes in superior vena cava syndrome (SVCS) by using the indices of transit time (TT), time of half peak count (TH) and pe ak count ratio (PC ratio). The objective of this study was to examine the utility of applying these indices, alongside images, in the post-t herapy assessment of SVCS patients. Radionuclide venography was perfor med twice on 36 patients with SVCS due to thoracic malignancies, 29 of whom received specific anti-cancer therapy between the two studies (G roup I); the other 7 did not receive such therapy (Group II). On the i mages, 12 patients in Group I showed improvement, one a deterioration and 16 no change; in Group II, 4 showed a deterioration and 3 no chang e. Using the indices, nearly all patients in Group I had decreased pos t-therapy values indicating haemodynamic improvement. A significant di fference was seen between the mean (+/- S.E.) pre-and post-therapy val ues for TT (pre vs post: 6.2 +/- 0.7 vs 2.7 +/- 0.3 s) and TH (pre vs post: 16.9 +/- 2.3 vs 7.9 +/- 0.8 s) (P < 0.001). Although the PC rati o showed a nonsignificant decrement, it related to the status of colla teral change. The above indices provide clinically valuable informatio n about the haemodynamic status of patients with SVCS and can be used for their post-therapy evaluation. ((C) 1998 Lippincott-Raven Publishe rs).