Intestinal uptake of ^sup 99m^Tc-MDP: a case report of protein-losing enteropathy correlated with pathology findings from autopsy

We present a case of a 60-year-old man with a history of severe hypoproteinemia and constitutional syndrome, suspected to have protein-losing enteropathy (PLE). Bone scintigraphy (^sup 99m^Tc-MDP) performed to rule out the presence of bone metastases incidentally showed abnormal uptake in abdominal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annals of nuclear medicine 2011-02, Vol.25 (2), p.139
Main Authors: Martinez-sanchis, Begoña, Cortés-vizcaíno, Virginia, Frontado-morales, Lorena, Sopena-novales, Pablo
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:We present a case of a 60-year-old man with a history of severe hypoproteinemia and constitutional syndrome, suspected to have protein-losing enteropathy (PLE). Bone scintigraphy (^sup 99m^Tc-MDP) performed to rule out the presence of bone metastases incidentally showed abnormal uptake in abdominal soft tissue. The patient unexpectedly died of heart failure, and autopsy revealed microscopic alterations consistent with PLE exclusively in the right colon, corresponding to the area of abnormal uptake. Few similar cases have been published, but none of them reported correlative pathological findings affecting the area of abnormal tracer uptake. In this case of PLE, ^sup 99m^Tc-MDP scintigraphy was a useful imaging method for localizing the site of protein loss, showing a focal area of alteration in the right colon. This finding could also have been of great help in case that surgery had been finally performed to control the protein loss.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:0914-7187
1864-6433
DOI:10.1007/s12149-010-0445-z