Measurement of glomerular filtration rate with 99mTc-DTPA: a comparison of gamma camera methods.

A comparison has been made between three gamma camera methods for estimation of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) using 99mTc-DTPA in a group of 27 patients with widely different renal function. Plasma clearance of 99mTc-DTPA by multiple blood sampling was used as the reference. Percentage uptake of chelate in the bladder and kidneys at 20 min after injection gave the lowest standard error of 8.0 ml/min. Techniques using early uptake of isotope in the kidneys at 2 min after injection gave less accurate estimates. Correction for the vascular activity in the renal region of interest improved the results for the 2 min uptake technique. Gamma camera techniques provide rapid estimates of GFR which are less accurate than those obtained by plasma clearance of labelled chelate.