Somatostatin Receptor Scintigraphy in Patients with Carcinoid Tumors

Abstract. In 80 % to 90 % of patients with carcinoids, tumor sites can be detected with [111In-DTPA-D-Phe1]-octreotide scintigraphy. Unexpected, additional localizations are reported in one-third to two-thirds of pa-tients. In a group of 52 patients, we analyzed the results of various combinations of octreotide scintigraphy and conventional imaging. Oct-reotide scintigraphy, alone or in combination with other imaging modal-ities, led to the detection of more tumor sites than any combination of conventional imaging techniques. The combination of octreotide scintig-raphy, chest radiography, and ultrasonography of the upper abdomen led to the detection of lesions in all patients in whom they could be demonstrated by any imaging means, with a sensitivity of 87 % in terms of the number of detected lesions. The calculated cost for this imaging regimen was higher than for the combination of conventional imaging as applied in our group. However, the benefit was the detection of at least one lesion in 11 % of patients in whom with conventional imaging n