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GALLIUM 67 CITRATE SCANNING IN PATIENTS WITH LACRIMAL GLAND AND CONJUNCTIVAL SARCOIDOSIS
Author(s) -
KARMA ANNI,
POUKKULA ANNELI,
RUOKONEN AIMO
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
acta ophthalmologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.534
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1755-3768
pISSN - 1755-375X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-3768.1984.tb03967.x
Subject(s) - sarcoidosis , medicine , lacrimal gland , lung , pathology , biopsy , thorax (insect anatomy) , lacrimal apparatus , anatomy
Gallium citrate Ga 67 scanning of the head and thorax of 3 patients with sarcoidosis is presented. Two patients had a progressive pulmonary sarcoidosis of recent onset and in one patient, with a chronic course of the disease, the lung changes had resolved. All 3 patients had a conjunctival sarcoid change confirmed by biopsy and a lacrimal gland affection suggested by clinical examination. A highly increased Ga 67 uptake in the lacrimal and parotid glands as well as in the nasopharynx was found in all patients, and an increased lung uptake was found in the newly detected cases. It is concluded that gallium scanning is a sensitive method for detecting minute ophthalmic changes in sarcoidosis. It also reveals chronic localized ocular affection in cases in which the lung changes are no longer detectable. The mechanism and specificity of gallium uptake in sarcoidosis is also discussed.