salivary gland scintigraphy in patients with sjogren’s syndrome: a local experience with dual-tracer

Objective(s): to review the findings of the patients with sjögren’s syndrome (ss) having technetium-99m-pertechnetate (99mtc-pertechnetate) and gallium-67 citrate (ga-67) salivary gland scintigraphy in the past eight years. methods: the patients with ss, who were referred to our department for salivary gland scintigraphy during january 2008-december 2015 were studied using both 99mtc-pertechnetate and ga-67 citrate scintigraphy. results: eighteen patients were included in the study, 17 of whom had positive findings on 99mtc-pertechnetate salivary gland scintigraphy. one patient had negative parotid glands findings on 99mtc-pertechnetate, but positive findings in ga-67 study. four patients had asymmetric involvement of the parotid glands, and one patient had asymmetric involvement of the submandibular glands in 99mtc-pertechnetate salivary gland scintigraphy. on the other hand, one patient had only submandibular gland involvement in the 99mtc-pertechnetate scan. nine patients (9/18) had positive parotid gland findings on ga-67 study. the involvements of the parotid glands were all symmetrical, except for one patient. no abnormal gallium uptake in the submandibular glands in our patients was noted. conclusion: 99mtc-pertechnetate salivary gland scintigraphy is sufficient for the assessment in the majority of patients with ss. ga-67 scintigraphy may be a useful supplementary test, especially if the result of 99mtc-pertechnetate scintigraphy is not conclusive.