Lung
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This study evaluated the effects of fluticasone propionate inhalation therapy on lung ventilation and alveolar permeability by quantitative Tc-99m DTPA radioaerosol inhalation lung scintigraphy in 15 children with asthma. Lung ventilation was evaluated as the distribution percentage (D%) of Tc-99m DTPA radioaerosols in the central, intermediate and peripheral regions of the right lung. ⋯ The preliminary results revealed statistically significantly improved lung ventilation but no significant change of alveolar permeability in the right lung after one-week fluticasone propionate inhalation therapy in children with asthma. We suggest that the widely available and noninvasive Tc-99m DTPA radioaerosol inhalation lung scintigraphy can simultaneously evaluate lung ventilation and alveolar permeability in one study and should contribute to any disorder involving both alveoli and airways.
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We used technetium-99m hexamethylpropylene amine oxime (Tc-99m HMPAO) lung scan to detect subclinical lung injury in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF), on regular hemodialysis (HD), who had normal chest X-ray findings (CXR) and pulmonary function test (PFT). The degree of pulmonary vascular endothelium damage was represented as lung/liver uptake ratios (L/L ratios) calculated by Tc-99m HMPAO lung scan. The L/L ratios of the 20 male CRF patients on HD with normal CXR and PFT were compared with those of the 20 male normal controls. ⋯ Using a cut-off value of 0.50, 18/20 [90%] CRF patients had abnormally increased L/L ratios. Our findings concluded that the pulmonary vascular endothelium damage represented as significantly increased L/L ratios on Tc-99m HMPAO lung scan in CRF patients on HD with normal CXR and PFT. In addition, Tc-99m HMPAO lung scan has the potential to be a sensitive, objective and noninvasive method to detect subclinical lung injury of CRF patients on HD, which is different from the traditional studies such as CXR or PFT.