SPECT/CT scintigraphy in Graves’ ophthalmopathy

The aim of this study was to investigate the predictive role of the orbital somatostatin receptor scintigraphy with 99mTc-EDDA/HYNIC-TOC (99mTc-TOC) to detect clinical stage of Graves’ ophthalmopathy and the response to corticosteroid therapy. The subjects of the experiment were 46 patients with Graves’ ophthalmopathy (GO) and four volunteers without eye disease or GO as the normal group (NG). Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), computed tomography (CT) and the left and right lateral position planar imaging of the heads of the all subjects were obtained 4 h after the intravenous injection of 555 MBq of 99mTc-TOC. The 99mTc-TOC SPECT/CT was repeated 3 months later. 35 (35/46) patients were received corticosteroid therapy (prednisolone, 10 mg po tid ) for 3 months, however, the other 11 patients as control groups did not receive any treatment. The treatment effect was evaluated both by the orbital 99mTc-TOC uptake and NOSPECS. A significant decrease in the O/OC ratio was observed in 22 GO patients between preand post-treatment (1.64 ± 0.13 vs. 1.21 ± 0.09, P < 0.05). There were neither significant difference of the O/OC ratio in 13 GO patients between preand post-treatment periods, nor significant difference in the 9 (9/11) patients before and after three months. Orbital 99mTc-TOC scintigraphy is a feasible technique to estimate the Graves’ ophthalmopathy activity and predict the response to subsequent corticosteroid therapy in GO patients. The technique could be a useful tool for physicians not familiar with CAS determination.