Is SPECT of the spleen worthwhile in the evaluation of liver disease severity?

SPECT of the spleen has been performed with 99Tcm-sulphur colloid in 53 patients, and SPECT of the liver has been performed in 57 patients. All patients had histologically proven liver disease and were classified by the degree of severity, Group A-severe, Group B-moderate, Group C-mild. The patients were further classified as cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic. Eight controls were also studied. There is positive though poor correlation between splenic volume and uptake (r2 = 0.55). Splenic volume and uptake are significantly different in Group A patients compared with all other groups (p less than 0.001). They are also significantly different in cirrhotics versus non-cirrhotics and cirrhotics versus controls (p less than 0.001). Splenic SPECT was unhelpful in distinguishing between moderate and mild liver disease. SPECT of the spleen is a time consuming technique but a useful adjunct to liver SPECT in patients with portal hypertension.