DETECTION OF PORTAL BLOOD-FLOW USING PER-RECTAL TC-99M-PERTECHNETATE SCINTIGRAPHY IN NORMAL CATS

This study reports data obtained from per-rectal Tc-99m-pertechnetate portal scintigraphy in normal cats. It examines the effects of chemica l restraint and the methods employed in defining regions of interest ( ROIs) on the shunt index derived from this data, Six normal cats were used for the study; all six were chemically restrained for imaging usi ng propofol and later four of them were manually restrained for compar ison, Portal blood flow was studied and the mean shunt index was found to be 5.9% +/- 3.9 when ROIs were operator defined and 9.2% +/- 4.4 w hen ROIs were defined using an isocontour program. In cats that were r estrained using propofol and operator defined ROIs, the mean value for the time between detection of radioactivity in the liver and in the h eart was 14 +/- 1 seconds.