Assessment of skin ulcer healing capability by technetium-99m phosphate angiogram and blood-pool images.

The accuracy of radionuclide angiography and blood-pool imaging using [99mTc]-phosphate to assess skin ulcer perfusion as an indicator of healing capacity was determined in 50 studies performed on 45 patients with nonhealing ulcers of the lower extremities. Two nuclear medicine physicians without clinical bias, graded the perfusion of the ulcer on the images as normal, increased or reduced with respect to the opposite limb. Patients were followed closely with aggressive local wound care for at least 14 days. Of the 31 ulcers which healed, the radionuclide study correctly predicted 30; of the 19 ulcers which did not heal, 14 were correctly predicted. Eight patients had osteomyelitis; four of those healed and four did not. The radionuclide study predicted healing in seven. Excluding those patients with osteomyelitis, the sensitivity for the radionuclide angiogram and blood-pool image in predicting healing was 96%, specificity was 87%, and accuracy was 93%. This technique is a simple, reliable way to predict the microcirculatory adequacy for ulcer healing. Specificity is diminished in the presence of osteomyelitis.