A DPD scan is a type of
nuclear medicine
Nuclear medicine or nucleology is a medical specialty involving the application of radioactive substances in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Nuclear imaging, in a sense, is "radiology done inside out" because it records radiation emit ...
imaging test which uses radioactive
technetium-99m
Technetium-99m (99mTc) is a metastable nuclear isomer of technetium-99 (itself an isotope of technetium), symbolized as 99mTc, that is used in tens of millions of medical diagnostic procedures annually, making it the most commonly used medical r ...
(
99mTc) and 3,3-diphosphono-1,2-propanodicarboxylic acid (DPD) to diagnose
cardiac amyloidosis. The
radiopharmaceutical
Radiopharmaceuticals, or medicinal radiocompounds, are a group of pharmaceutical drugs containing radioactive isotopes. Radiopharmaceuticals can be used as diagnostic and therapeutic agents. Radiopharmaceuticals emit radiation themselves, which is ...
is taken up only in patients with ATTR
amyloidosis
Amyloidosis is a group of diseases in which abnormal proteins, known as amyloid fibrils, build up in tissue. There are several non-specific and vague signs and symptoms associated with amyloidosis. These include fatigue, peripheral edema, weig ...
, making it a useful tool to differentiate from
AL amyloidosis
Amyloid light-chain (AL) amyloidosis, also known as primary amyloidosis, is the most common form of systemic amyloidosis in the US. The disease is caused when a person's antibody-producing cells do not function properly and produce abnormal protei ...
.
DPD is a
diphosphonate and can be used as an alternative to HDP or MDP in nuclear medicine
bone scintigraphy
A bone scan or bone scintigraphy is a nuclear medicine imaging technique of the bone. It can help diagnose a number of bone conditions, including cancer of the bone or metastasis, location of bone inflammation and fractures (that may not be vis ...
.
Procedure
DPD scanning typically uses a
gamma camera
A gamma camera (γ-camera), also called a scintillation camera or Anger camera, is a device used to image gamma radiation emitting radioisotopes, a technique known as scintigraphy. The applications of scintigraphy include early drug development ...
to obtain
SPECT
Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT, or less commonly, SPET) is a nuclear medicine tomographic imaging technique using gamma rays. It is very similar to conventional nuclear medicine planar imaging using a gamma camera (that is, ...
images, with an injection followed by an initial scan after 5 minutes, and a second scan after 3 hours.
Images are often scored using the "Perugini system" whereby:
* Grade 0 – no cardiac uptake and normal bone uptake
* Grade 1 – cardiac uptake which is less intense than the bone signal
* Grade 2 – cardiac uptake with intensity similar or greater than bone signal
* Grade 3 – cardiac uptake with much attenuated or absent bone signal
Availability
DPD is not currently available in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
.
See also
*
SAP scan
References
{{reflist
Nuclear medicine procedures
Amyloidosis