Precise Localization of Occult Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage Using Dynamic SPECT/CT

Clin Nucl Med. 2016 Jan;41(1):46-9. doi: 10.1097/RLU.0000000000001014.

Abstract

Active but intermittent gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding can be readily detected with dynamic planar scintigraphic imaging. This is a case of a 48-year-old woman who presented from an outside institution with active GI bleeding on 99mTc-labeled RBC (99mTc-RBC) scintigraphy, but the upper and lower GI evaluations failed to subsequently localize the site of persistent bleeding. Repeat 99mTc-RBC planar scintigraphy identified a focus of active extravasation in the right lower quadrant of the abdomen. Dynamic SPECT/CT imaging was immediately performed and further identified the ileocecal valve region as the precise site of active extravasation, which was confirmed at surgery.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Female
  • Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / diagnostic imaging*
  • Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / surgery
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Multimodal Imaging*
  • Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon*
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed*