Renal graft evaluation with pertechnetate and I-131 Hippuran. A comparative clinical study.

This retrospective study compared standard clinical and biochemical data from 50 graft recipients against 533 I-131 Hippuran sequential scintigrams and 515 [99mTc]pertechnetate serial scintigrams. All grafts included in this study are cadaver kidneys. The majority of the studies were made during the early posttransplantation period. Anuria or oliguria of at least 4 days duration was seen in 18 patients. The study spans 574 days of oliguria during which 136 dual-tracer studies were made. I-131 Hippuran renography of functioning grafts was carried out 397 times, and the Tc-99m sequential scintigraphy 379 times. In all, 47 espisodes of actue rejection were registered clinically in functioning gfafrs, 36 of which were recognized during Hippuran renography and 38 with the pertechnetate study. False-positive errors were seen 12 times during renography. The study also demonstrated that furosemide will significantly and predictably influence renography and the pertechnetate study. This seems noteworthy since furosemide is extensively used in posttransplant management.