Assessment of the maximum uptake time of 99mTc-DMSA in renal scintigraphy in rat

Introduction:The optimal imaging time of a radionuclide scintigraphy is the time at which the organ of interest has the maximum uptake of the injected radionuclide. This study was performed to investigate the maximum uptake time of 99mTc-DMSA in rat renal scan. Methods: Renal scintigraphy was performed with 3 mCi of 99mTc-DMSA. Planar images were acquired every 20 minutes for 8 hours post-injection using a small-animal SPECT. Results: Activity and the count rate per pixel (CRPP) of the kidneys peaked 1 h post-injection, plateaued for about 1 h, and declined time-dependently. Kidney to background ratio (KBR) reached to 61.7% at 1 h after injection and remained almost constant afterwards. Conclusion: The kidneys had maximum emission and CRPP between 1 to 2 h after 99mTc-DMSA injection, whereas there was no significant difference between the KBRs after 1 h. Our results showed that image acquisition of 1-2 h post-injection is recommended for renal scintigraphy with DMSA in rat.