Tc-99m antigranulocyte monoclonal antibody imaging for the detection and assessment of inflammatory bowel disease newly diagnosed by colonoscopy in children
M. Charron et al., Tc-99m antigranulocyte monoclonal antibody imaging for the detection and assessment of inflammatory bowel disease newly diagnosed by colonoscopy in children, PEDIAT RAD, 31(11), 2001, pp. 796-800
Objective. This prospective study evaluated a Tc-99m antigranulocyte monocl
onal antibody Fab' imaging agent (Sulesomab) in children with inflammatory
bowel disease (IBD) newly diagnosed by colonoscopy.
Materials and methods. Ten children (4 boys, 6 girls; mean age 14 years) wi
th newly diagnosed Crohn's disease (n = 6) or ulcerative colitis (n = 4) we
re studied. Colonoscopy was performed in all of these patients. Within 24 h
after colonoscopy, they underwent scintigraphy with Tc-99m-Sulesomab. Abdo
minal/ pelvic images were acquired at 30 min (planar) and 2-4 h (planar and
SPECT) after injection of Sulesomab. Eighty bowel segments were evaluated
semi-quantitatively by the investigators, using these three sets of images.
The Pediatric Disease Activity (PDA) was correlated with the erythrocyte s
edimentation rate (ESR), white blood cell (WBC) count, albumin, Kirschner's
score, the Sulesomab bowel segment with maximum uptake, and the sum of Sul
esomab score in each segment.
Results. The median PDA score was 26 (range 12.5-40). Three children had no
rmal ESR and six normal WBC counts. All patients had at least one positive
mucosal biopsy for IBD. While using the Kirschner's scale, the maximal seve
rity of colonoscopy findings was graded as none (n = 2), mild (n = 4), mode
rate (n = 3), or severe (n = 1). Of the 59 segments evaluated with endoscop
y, 35 were found to be endoscopically abnormal. The planar images identifie
d 17 of these abnormal segments and the SPECT images 20. Nine of these ten
children had abnormal bowel uptake by scintigraphy. Thus, the sensitivity o
f Sulesomab per patient was 90% and per bowel segment 57%. The correlation
coefficient between the scintigraphic score for the segment with the Suleso
mab maximum activity and the PDA was 0.3 (P = 0.41).
Conclusion. In pediatric IBD assessment, planar imaging with Sulesomab did
not prove very sensitive in detecting inflammation in each bowel segment. H
owever, SPECT detected the presence of inflammation in the majority of pati
ents. A trial comparing Tc-99m-HmPAO-WBC with Sulesomab in a large number o
f patients is required.