Detection of esophagitis by Tc-99m-methoxyisobutylisonitrile chest SPECT

Esophagitis is a common complication of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GE RD). Unfortunately, an accurate diagnosis of esophagitis usually requires i nvasive endoscopy. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the use of noni nvasive Tc-99m-methoxyisobutylisonitrile (MIBI) chest SPECT to detect esoph agitis in GERD patients. Methods: Forty GERD patients who underwent endosco py for diagnosis and grading of esophagitis according to the Savary-Miller grading system were included in this study. Tc-99m-MIBI chest SPECT was per formed on all patients to detect and grade esophagitis. Results: On the bas is of the endoscopic findings, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy o f 99mTc-MIBI chest SPECT to detect esophagitis were 100%, 77%, and 95%, res pectively. The correlation between the Savary-Miller grading system and Tc- 99m-MIBI chest SPECT grading was found to be good. Conclusion: Noninvasive Tc-99m-MIBI chest SPECT has excellent sensitivity and good accuracy as a sc reen for esophagitis.