1984 年 31 巻 1 号 p. 7-13
Ga-67 scanning was used to evaluate 32 patients with sarcoidosis, 20 patients who were untreated and 12 who were treated. The level of serum angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) was measured in all patients and bronchoalveolar lavage was performed in 10 untreated patients and 7 treated patients. Ga-67 scanning was compared with the level of serum ACE and the number of lymphocytes, espeically T-lymphocytes in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Ga-67 scanning was useful for the detection and assessment of subclinical lesions that were not identified with traditional methods of investigation. Although the extent of Ga-67 accumulation in the lungs of patients with untreated sarcoidosis did not correlate with the serum ACE level, it did correlate with the number of lymphocytes, especially T-lymphocytes, in the bronchoa-Iveolar lavage. Based on this finding, the Ga-67 scanning method should be useful for evaluating the locus and the activity of T-cell alveolitis, an early sign of sarcoidosis. This method should provide useful clinical indices for the determination of the stage of sarcoidosis, for the evaluation of therapeutic procedures, and for the assessment of prognosis.
