Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome: Ga-67 citrate imaging

All gallium-67 citrate scans obtained in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) at the Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, Md.) were retrospectively analyzed and correlated with the results of bronchoscopy, chest radiography, and endoscopy. There were 164 scans of 95 patients. Twenty scans were from patients with Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia; 19 were abnormal, for a sensitivity of 95%. Ga-67 uptake tended to be less in patients receiving therapy for P. carinii pneumonia. Chest radiographs were normal at least initially in three patients with abnormal scans and P. carinii pneumonia. Unusually prominent colonic activity was associated with infection in some patients. No lesions of Kaposi sarcoma showed tracer uptake. Gallium scanning is useful for detecting P. carinii pneumonia and other opportunistic infections in patients with AIDS, but it is not useful for localizing Kaposi sarcoma.