DACRYOSCINTIGRAPHY RIGHT EYE OBSTRUCTION, NORMAL LEFT EYE

           (Prepared by Dr Alejandra Jimenez).

 

 

 

 

 

            Female, 28 year old referred to evaluate obstruction of right nasolacrimal duct. Scintigraphy in these 3 first 15 min frames, shows  obstruction of this duct immediately below the level of the nasolacrimal sac (black arrow). No changes were noted after soft massage in the inner area to the caruncle. There is normal left flow across the nasolacrimal sac and nasolacrimal duct, with activity reaching the pharinx (blue arrow).

            Dacryoscintigraphy  is a low-radiation-dose method for evaluation under physiologic conditions. It is used to demonstrate patency of the excretory system and to localize the area of obstruction, wich can be used for surgical planning and for postsurgery followup. The results based on tracer disappareance from the eyes ( high activity at 1 min- T1- and slow clearance over 15 min) have adequate sensitivity and specificity: 77/95% for T1 and 71/100% for linear clearance rate  (1).

References:

1.- P.L.Jager et al. Clinical value of dacryoscintigraphy using a simplified analysis. Graefe‘s Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 2005; 243:1134-1140.
2.- McDonald A.. Burrell S. Infrecuently Performed Studies in Nuclear Medicine: Part 1  Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology 2008;Vol 36- No 3: 132-143.


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