Fever of unknown origin and the value of gallium-67 and technetium-99M for defining abnormality of the spleen: a case report.

A three-year-old white female with acute promyelocytic leukemia developed persistent fever after successful induction-remission therapy; many large monilial abscesses were later found in the grossly enlarged spleen. Although the technetium-99M sulfur colloid scan prior to splenectomy suggested only a slight abnormality of the spleen, the gallium-67 citrate scintigraph showed a marked increase in gallium accumulation. The disparate results of the scanning techniques utilized in this patient suggest that it may be necessary to use more than one type of radiopharmaceutical to define an enlarged spleen, as well as the pathological process responsible for its enlargement.