Comparison of double phase Tc-99m MIBI and Tc-99m tetrofosmin scintimammography for characterization of breast lesions: Visual and quantitative analyses

The aim of the current study was to compare the diagnostic reliability of visual and quantitative indices of double phase Tc-99m MIBI scintimammography (M-SMM) and Tc-99m Tetrofosmin scintimammography (TF-SMM) for detection of breast cancer. Double phase M-SMM and TF-SMM (early; 10 minutes, delayed; hour) were performed after injection of 925 MBq of radiotracers in 75 highly suspected breast cancer patients (malignant:49, benign:26). For visual analysis, five scoring methods were used. For quantitative analysis, early, delayed lesions to non-lesion ratios (L/Ns), and washout rate (%, WR) were calculated. When over grade of visual grade was used as cut-off value in the detection of primary breast cancer, M-SMM and TF-SMM showed similar diagnostic accuracies. The optimal quantitative indices of M-SMM for the detection of breast cancer were 2.06 for early L/N and 1.72 for delayed L/N. Those of TF-SMM were 3.13 for early, and 2.56 for delayed image. Visual and quantitative analyses showed similar results. However, delayed L/N of M-SMM was superior to that of TF-SMM for the detection of breast cancer. In conclusion, the double phase M-SMM and TF-SMM showed favorable diagnostic accuracy in differentiating benign from malignant breast lesions, visually and quantitatively. The optimal visual interpretation grades for the detection of primary breast cancer of double phase M-SMM and TF-SMM were grade and 5. The optimal quantitative indices of M-SMM for the detection of breast cancer were 2.06 for early L/N and 1.72 for delayed L/N. Those of TF-SMM were 3.13 for early, and 2.56 for delayed image.