Tc-99(m)-tetrofosmin scintimammography for detecting breast cancer: a comparative study with Tc-99(m)-MIBI

Scintimammography using Tc-99(m)-MIBI (Tc-99(m)-sestamibi) has demonstrated promising results in the detection of breast cancer. Recently scintimammog raphy using Tc-99(m)-tetrofosmin has been suggested as a better diagnostic tool and a more convenient agent to use in this condition. In this study we compared both agents in 35 consecutive women with abnormal mammographic or physical findings. Thirty-four of them underwent MIBI scan, followed by te trofosmin scan 2 days later (performed on all 35 women). Within 2 weeks, a pathological diagnosis was obtained either by needle or open biopsy. In bot h scans the uptake ratio between the lesion and the background uptake was c alculated. Twenty patients who underwent tetrofosmin scan and 19 patients w ith MIBI scan had malignant breast rumours, while 15 women had benign lesio ns. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values a nd total accuracy of the MIBI scan were 89.4%, 80%, 85%, 85.7% and 85.3%, r espectively; almost identical values were obtained with tetrofosmin (90%, 8 0%, 85.6%, 85.7% and 85.7%, respectively). The uptake ratios in the MIBI an d tetrofosmin scans were 1.68 +/- 0.52 and 1.7 +/- 0.47, respectively. No d ifferences were found between the two scintimammographies in all the parame ters examined. In conclusion, MIBI and tetrofosmin breast scans are accurat e and equally efficient for the detection of breast malignancies. ((C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins).