Ga-67 scintigraphy and computed tomography in the diagnosis of pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in patients with AIDS. A prospective comparison
Tumeh, S.S.; Belville, J.S.; Pugatch, R.; McNeil, B.J.
Clinical Nuclear Medicine 17(5): 387-394
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0363-9762 PMID: 1587045 Document Number: 399786
A prospective evaluation of Ga-67 scintigraphy and transmission computed tomography was performed in 70 consecutive patients in the USA, with AIDS who were suspected of having Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP). Studies were evaluated independently by two observers. Receiver operating characteristic curves were plotted. Although scintigraphy had a higher true-positive ratio at any false-positive ratio, statistically the areas under the two receiver operating characteristic curves were not significantly different. However, at a false-positive rate of 15% to 20%, the sensitivity for scintigraphy was 0.84 and for computed tomography 0.80. Corresponding specificities were 0. 82 and 0.64, respectively. These data suggest that gallium imaging is superior to computed tomography in detecting PCP.