Radiology, Vol 139, 205-209, Copyright © 1981 by Radiological Society of North America
Abdominal and hepatic uptake of 99mTc-pyrophosphate in neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis
VJ Caride, RJ Touloukian, RC Ablow, RC Lange and T Matthews
Abdominal 99mTc-pyrophosphate (99mTc-PYP) scans were obtained in 15
neonates: 12 with neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), two with
osteomyelitis, and one with myocarditis. Ten of the babies with NEC had at
least one positive scan; of these 10 studies, seven (Group A) showed both
diffuse abdominal uptake and localized hepatic activity, two (Group B)
showed abdominal uptake and questionable hepatic uptake, and one (Group C)
demonstrated diffuse abdominal uptake only. The other two babies with NEC
had normal scans (Group D). Pneumatosis intestinalis was unquestionably
present in two patients from Group A and one from Group B. Upon resolution
of the clinical findings, all NEC patients had normal scans. A patient with
myocarditis had hepatic uptake of 99mTC- PYP while the abdominal scan in
the two infants with osteomyelitis was normal. These preliminary
observations suggest that further study of a relationship between abdominal
scan findings and the course of NEC is warranted.
