A Modified Semi-quantitative Salivary Gland Scintigraphy in Parotid Glands

Purpose: The aim of the study was to establish a modified dynamic 99mTc-pertechnetate salivary gland scintigraphy and to establish semi-quantitative indices of parotid gland.Materials and Methods: Thirty normal volunteers and 44 patients with Sjgren's syndrome underwent dynamic 99mTc-pertechnetate salivary gland scintigraphy.The data were acquired 30 minutes consecutively with vitamin C administered in the fifteenth minutes.Time-activity curves and functional indices were obtained automatically using the technique of Regions of Interest(ROI) and self-compiled software of the computer.The mean and standard deviation of the functional index of two groups were compared.Results: 74 salivary scintigraphy were completed successfully.The difference of uptake index,relative uptake index in the fifteenth minute and excretion fraction is significant between the two groups(P0.05).Conclusion: The modified dynamic 99mTc-pertechnetate salivary gland scintigraphy provides semi-quantitative indices reflecting the function of the parotid gland intuitively and objectively thus deserves further popularization.