Detection of lung and chest tumours using 99Tcm-tetrofosmin:: Comparison with 201Tl

The aim of this study was to assess the usefulness of Tc-99(m)-tetrofosmin for detecting tumours of the lungs and adjacent structures and to compare the results with those for Tl-201. In the 18 patients studied, there were 30 lesions in total. Dual-isotope SPET acquisitions were performed 10 min and 3 h after the administration of Tc-99(m)-tetrofosmin and Tl-201. image quality and semi-quantitative parameters were evaluated for both tracers. All lesions were detected by the two radiopharmaceuticals on both the early and delayed images. In seven patients, the image quality of Tc-99(m)-tetrofosmin was better than that of Tl-201. For the detection of metastatic lymph nodes, the delayed Tl-201 and the early Tc-99(m)-tetrofosmin images were superior. No significant difference was observed between the uptake ratios of the two tracers. Tc-99(m)-tetrofosmin showed significantly (P < 0.001) higher washout than Tl-201 from both the lesions and normal lungs, although washout of Tl-201 from normal lungs was significantly higher than that from the lesions. In conclusion, Tc-99(m)-tetrofosmin may be helpful for detecting tumours of the lungs and adjacent structures, but has limited applicability in differentiating between malignant and benign tumours and may not be used instead of Tl-201 to detect malignant tumours of the lungs. ((C) 1998 Lippincott-Raven Publishers).