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A variety of techniques have been employed to assess renal function and its evolution after transplant surgery. Since initial perfusion studies are easy to perform, one may be tempted to rely on 99mTc-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) scanning alone. Some discrepancies have been observed between perfusion studies and clinical outcome of the renal transplant patients however. We therefore decided to evaluate both 99mTc-DTPA and 131I-hippuran renal scanning in 28 renal transplant patients. Sixty 99mTc-DTPA perfusion and 131I hippuran scintigraphies were performed using a same-day protocol. The examinations were repeated in 14 patients at weekly or monthly intervals to monitor the clinical trend of these patients. The results of this study indicate that, for early detection of the kidney problems, 131I-hippuran scintigraphy was superior to 99mTc-DTPA perfusion scans, but for the proper clinical management of renal transplant patients, both procedures should be utilized.

In this preliminary study, Tc-99m MIBI, a muscle perfusion agent, was used to assess the viability of tissues in two patients with extensive high-tension electrical burns. This proved to be an easy and definitive diagnostic procedure and a practical solution to determining the level of amputation before surgery.

There have been several methods utilized in the diagnosis or assessment of medical or surgical treatments of peripheral arterial diseases. In this study, the diagnostic value of a new tracer: 99mTc-methoxy-isobutyl-isonitrile (MIBI) has been demonstrated in patients with leg claudication. We successively performed muscle perfusion scans in 6 normals and 18 patients with claudication pain during rest and after exercise on the same day. Muscle perfusion abnormalities in all patients were consistent with the defects in the arteries of the affected limbs. The results show that this is a simple and accurate diagnostic procedure and superior to those that have been previously used.