The Role of Gallium (Ga-67) Scintigraphy in the Diagnosis of Sarcoidosis

Purpose: To identify and interrogate the role of Gallium-67 scintigraphy in the diagnosis of Sarcoidosis. Methods: A retrospective study of 75 patients with suspected Sarcoidosis in a large teaching hospital with a specialist Sarcoidosis Centre. Results: Ga-67 scintigraphy in patients considered on clinical grounds to have Sarcoidosis is a useful and sensitive test, and furthermore, by relaxing the interpretation of gallium scintigraphy sensitivity may be increased (from 20% to 80%) for a relatively small drop in specificity. Conclusions: The sensitivity of diagnostic power may be increased with a change in diagnostic criteria at the expense of only a small drop in specificity. In the context of Neurosarcoidosis, our results support the theory that Ga-67 scintigraphy has value in identifying potential, asymptomatic biopsy sites outside of the CNS that may not be identified by other forms of imaging.