A different concept in the application of dacryoscintigraphy

Purpose: Current dacryoscintigraphy methods have several potential pitfalls , the most important of which is the outflow of tears. Another is the diffi culty in fixing the head with the patient seated. To overcome these difficu lties, a new method was applied. Materials and Methods: The study included 77 persons: 43 controls and 34 pa tients with epiphora. Two methods were applied to the two groups. In the fi rst, protocol 1 (the current conventional protocol), the patient was seated in front of a gamma camera and one drop (50 mul) Tc-99m pertechnetate cont aining 50 to 100 mu Ci radioactivity was instilled in the inferior fornix o r outer canthus of the eye and dynamic and static images were obtained for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. In the other, protocol 2 (our protocol), 10 0 mu Ci (10 mul) Tc-99m pertechnetate was instilled in the outer canthus of the eye using a micropipette with the patient in the supine position under the gamma camera. Dynamic images were taken for only 5 minutes. Conclusion: The pitfalls and difficulties seen with protocol 1 were lessene d to a great degree in protocol 2.