Gallium scintigraphy demonstration of an appendiceal mucocele: a proposed mechanism of uptake.

An appendiceal mucocele demonstrated intense early avidity for Ga-67, despite the lack of inflammatory cells to account for the uptake. It is proposed that the acid mucopolysaccharide component of the mucus within the lumen and lining cells accounted for the uptake of the gallium ion, in a similar manner to the uptake of its analogue, the ferric ion, as demonstrated by intense staining of mucus by the colloidal iron technique.