The Use of Three-Phase Scintigraphy for Diagnosing Hemangiomas of the Extremities

Five hemangiomas were found in four patients and were assessed by three-phase blood perfusion and blood-pool scintigraphy to determine the usefulness of this method for the imaging characteristics of different types of hemangiomas of the extremities. After injecting Tc-99m RBC or Tc-99m DTPA HSA, dynamic perfusion and early and delayed pool images were obtained and analyzed. The perfusion images of one cavernous hemangioma and two venous hemangiomas showed normal activity, but blood-pool imaging showed increased activity, whereas on perfusion imaging and early blood-pool imaging, another cavernous hemangioma showed a partial increase in activity in its periphery and on delayed blood-pool imaging, diffuse increase in activity. Further, the remaining hemangioma, a mixed-type hemangioma, showed, diffuse increase in activity on both perfusion and blood-pool imaging. Thus, three-phase scintigraphy was found useful in evaluating and achieving a diagnosis of a hemangioma of the extremities.