Abdominal aorta and iliac artery abnormalities demonstrated by first pass radionuclide angiography

We reviewed 172 men (age 42-84) who had radinuclide angiography (RNA) of the abdomen-during 99mTc RBC gated cardiac study. After IV injection with 20-30 mCi of 99mTC pertechnetate the abdomen of each man was imaged every 5 sec for one min. Findings of those with abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) correlated well with radiographic studies and manifested as (1) ectasia (n=12), (2) ectasia with tortuosity (n=13), (3) tortuosity (n=9), (4) flow interruption (n=2). Abnormalities of iliac flow included decreased flow (n=21), (2) absent flow (n=11), (3) tortuosity (n=18) and (4) iliac aneurysm (n=13). Thirty-five of 63 patients (55.6%) with abnormal iliac artery findings had AAA. One patient with AAA had normal iliac artery flow. Distribution of common iliac flow findings among the 37 cases of AAA is as follows: 1 normal, 10 decreased flow; 4 absent flow; 8 tortuosities, and 13 aneurysms. Thirteen out of 13 (100%) AAA had iliac aneurysms. We conclude that non-invasive RNA during 99mTc RBC gated cardiac studies detect (a) abdominal aortic abnormalities such as ectasia, ectasia with tortuosity, tortuosity, and flow interruption, and (b) iliac abnormalities including aneurysm, tortuosity; absent and/or decreased flow. Noninvasive radionuclide angiography may serve as a screening procedure in elderly males to detect abnormalities of abdominal aorta and iliac arteries in those undergoing cardiac testing. (orig.)