Polymorphonuclear leukocyte-elastase in Crohn's disease: correlation with 99mtechnetium hexamethyl propylene amine oxime leukocyte scintigraphy.

In Crohn's disease (CD), labeled leukocyte scintigraphy results are highly correlated with radioendoscopic findings and the degree of histologic inflammation. We evaluated the correlation between leukocyte activity measured by two complementary methods. polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN)-elastase concentration and leukocyte scintigraphy. In 20 patients with CD, labeled leukocytes, 99m technetium hexamethyl propylene amine oxime (99mTc-HMPAO) scintigraphy, and PMN-elastase concentration were evaluated on the same day. A good correlation was found between PMN-elastase concentrations and the scintigraphic scores (p = 0.005; rs = 0.60; 95% CI, 0.20-0.83). Scintigraphy results were significantly correlated with CD activity index (p = 0.023, rs = 0.50). In four patients, scintigraphic scores and clinical disease activity were not consistent due to the state of PMN leukocyte activation, measured by elastase concentration. In CD, PMN-elastase can provide information about the degree of activation of PMN leukocytes and may explain discrepancy between clinical and scintigraphic indexes.