The role of biphasic scintigraphy with 99mTc-HMPAO leukocytes in detection of synthetic vascular graft infections--preliminary results.

The study presents preliminary results and suggests the role of scintigraphy of synthetic vascular prosthesis by 99mTc-HMPAO labelled leukocytes for detection of graft infections. Analysis of the results obtained revealed true positive in 6, true negative in 3 and suspicious findings in 3 patients (in one of them the suspicious was confirmed on reoperation). False positive and false negative results were not obtained. Early and accurate diagnosis of occult infection of the synthetic vascular graft is of utmost importance for the prompt starting of the therapy. Due to its high sensitivity and specificity, 99mTc-HMPAO-leukocytes scintigraphy is a very useful method for the detection of graft infections.