Bone marrow scintigraphy in hemopoietic depletion states

Bone marrow scintigraphy was performed in 29 patients with hemopoietic depletion states of various etiology. Two tracers were used for visualization, viz., sup(99m)Tc-sulfur-colloid and 111InCl3;some patients were examined using both indicators. 111InCl3 is bound to transferrin and is adsorbed on the surface of reticulocytes and erythroblasts. A scintillation camera PHO GAMMA SEARLE IV fitted with a moving table and computer CLINCOM were used to obtain whole-body images. The comparison of all scans and marrow puncture smears was done. In patients with aplastic anemia with both hyperplastic or hypoplastic marrow good correlation of bone marrow scans and sternal puncture smears was found. In several cases the scintigraphic examination helped to establish the diagnosis of marrow depletion. A peculiar disadvantage of the imaging method with either sup(99m)Tc-sulfur-colloid or 111InCl3 is that it shows the disorders in erythropoietic and reticuloendothelial cells whereas the defects in myelopoietic cell series and platelet precursors are not provable. According to literature data, great attention is paid to the prognostic value of scintigraphic examination in aplastic anemia. (author)