Author(s)

Yuji Asano¹, Yusuke Ohzeki², Yusuke Inoue^1*

¹Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Kitasato University School of Medicine, Sagamihara, Japan.
²Department of Radiology, Kitasato University Hospital, Sagamihara, Japan.

Objective: The width of the photopeak energy window influences the image quality and quantitative accuracy of gamma camera imaging. We compared 20% and 15% energy windows in renal scintigraphy with ^99mTc-mercaptoacetyltriglycine (MAG3), especially in terms of camera-based quantitative estimation of renal function. Materials and Methods: Forty patients who underwent dynamic renal scintigraphy with ^99mTc-MAG3 were enrolled in this study. Images were acquired simultaneously using two energy windows centered at 140 keV and with widths of 20% and 15%. Fractional renal uptake was calculated as the ratio of initial renal uptake estimated by patient imaging to injected dose estimated by syringe imaging, and was converted to MAG3 clearance using an empirical equation determined previously from data obtained with a 20% energy window. Relative function of the right kidney was also assessed. Visual evaluation was performed to compare image quality between the 20% and 15% energy windows. Results: Both total kidney MAG3 clearance and relative function of the right kidney were identical between the 20% and 15% energy windows. Image quality was also similar irrespective of the energy window width. Conclusions: The camera-based method established using a 20% energy window is applicable for the estimation of renal function using a 15% energy window, and data obtained using 20% and 15% windows are interchangeable.

^99mTc-Mercaptoacetyltriglycine (MAG3), Dynamic Renal Scintigraphy, Renal Function, Energy Window, Quantitative Measurement

Asano, Y. , Ohzeki, Y. and Inoue, Y. (2015) Effect of the Energy Window Width on the Estimation of Renal Function from Dynamic Renal Scintigraphy with ^99mTc-MAG3. Open Journal of Medical Imaging, 5, 37-41. doi: 10.4236/ojmi.2015.52006.