[Reliability of positive findings in serial cerebral scintigraphy. Evaluation of a prospective series of 1700 cases].

Abstract

The cerebral sequential scintigraphy enables a process to be described according to its hemodynamics (Stage I), its degree of vascularization (Stage II), and the extent of the localized disturbance of the blood-brain barrier function (Stage III). For a given lesion, typical scintigraphic behaviour patterns can be described. This report presents the results of a prospective series with 1722 patients examined using this method. The accuracy of the different scintigraphic diagnoses, according to tumor type, was: cerebrovascular accident with brain infarction - 92% (= CVA), metastasis - 90%, bone or meningital process - 89%, malignant glioma - 91%, meningioma - 74%, highly differentiated glioma - 67%, chronic subdural hematoma - 54%, A-V angioma - 54%, brain abscess - 45%. The differential diagnosis between brain tumor and CVA with infarction was possible in approximately 97% of the patients, the differential diagnosis of intracranial space-occupying lesion versus CVA with infarction in approximately 95%. There were 14 false positive results recorded (0.8% of the 1722 patients).