Opportunities of Radionuclide Diagnostics with 99mТc-MIBI in Children with Tuberculosis

Purpose: Study the informativeness of radionuclide diagnostics with 99mTc-MIBI in determining the prevalence and activity of the inflammatory process in children with tuberculosis. Material and methods: The examinations were conducted with the written consent of the patients’ parents. 28 children aged 3 to 13 years were examined. Among the subjects there were 12 boys (43.0 %), 16 girls (57.0 %). Among the clinical forms in children, the following predominated: tuberculosis of the intrathoracic lymph nodes – 11 children (39.3 %) and focal tuberculosis – 11 children (39.3 %), the Ghon focus – 3 children (10.7 %), primary tuberculosis complex – 2 children (7.1 %), tuberculosis of multiple localization – 1 child. To assess the activity of the specific process in the lungs and intrathoracic lymph nodes, a comprehensive clinical and laboratory examination was carried out taking into account the results of skin immunological tests. All children underwent chest computed tomography (CT) and 99mTc-MIBI SPECT. Results: The use of SPECT with 99mTc-MIBI in pediatric phthisiology allows for reliable determination of the activity and prevalence of the tuberculosis process in the lungs and mediastinal lymph nodes. The sensitivity of the radioisotope method with 99mTc-MIBI in detecting active inflammatory changes in the lungs and mediastinal lymph nodes was 82.1 % in our study. The significance of radionuclide research with 99mTc-MIBI for choosing tactics and determining the effectiveness of anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy in children was established, taking into account the degree of accumulation of the radiopharmaceutical in the pathological focus.