Radioimmunoimaging of subacute infective endocarditis using a technetium-99m monoclonal granulocyte-specific antibody.

Immunoscintigraphy with a technetium-99m murine monoclonal IgG1 antibody directed against non-specific cross-reacting antigen (NCA-95) and carcinoembryonic antigen was performed with 20 patients with suspected subacute infective endocarditis (SIE) and 6 controls with suspected inflammatory/infectious disease elsewhere in the body. Immunoscintigraphy and echocardiography localised SIE in 11 of 15 patients in whom the disease could be confirmed. In 4 patients with validated SIE, the immunoscan was abnormal, and the echocardiogram was normal. In another 4 patients, the result was exactly the opposite. These findings suggest that the combination of immunoscintigraphy and echocardiography improves diagnostic efficacy in patients with suspected SIE.