Abdominal lymphoscintigraphy: an effective substitute for lymphography?

Abdominal lymphoscintigraphy is a quick, easy, cheap and relatively non-invasive technique. In our study it appeared to be as accurate as lymphography, giving a positive correlation in 25 out of 32 patients (78%). In 11% of cases the lymphoscintigram detected an abnormality of lymph node function before macroscopic morphological change was seen in the lymphogram, indicating that in some instances lymphoscintigraphy is more sensitive than lymphography. The reason for this is unknown, although possible mechanisms are discussed and these are the subject of current further study. We believe this to be the first report of lymphoscintigraphy being more sensitive than lymphography for detecting lymph node disease.