Liver and Spleen Scanning in the Study of Malignant Lymphomas

With the object of evaluating the diagnostic importance of liver and spleen scintigraphy in lymphoblastomas, the hepatic and splenic scintigraphic patterns and their actual conditions ascertained through surgical exploration have been compared. 112 scintigraphic tests of liver and 46 of spleen were performed on patients with lymphoma who afterwards underwent splenectomy and multiple hepatic biopsy. Liver scintigraphy provided reliable evidence on the anatomopatological situation of the liver in most cases but also a fair number of false positives, combined sometimes with false negatives, and a large number of doubtful cases. As for as splenic scintigraphy is concerned, there were no positives but a good percentage of false negatives, probably related to the size of the anathomical alterations. In the case of multiple micronodular lesions the limit of scintigraphic detection seems to be about 1 cm.

In conclusion, at present, in the case of lymphoblastomas, scintigraphic explorations cannot replace surgical exploration in the appraisal of the diffusion of the disese.