Background: Planar scintimammography is useful for characterizing breast lesions >10 mm. Our aim was to evaluate Tc-99m sestamibi scintimammography with a hybrid (SPECTICT) device for functional anatomical mapping (FAM).
Patients and methods: Three planar images and a chest SPECT/CT were performed with a hybrid device in 53 patients with mammographically suspicious lesions. The final histopathological diagnosis was obtained after surgery.
Results: The planar images were positive in 27 out of 37 carcinomas (sensitivity 73%) and the SPECT/CT in 33 (sensitivity 89.2%). The sensitivity of planar imaging and SPECT/CT was 42.9% and 71.4% in cancers < or =10 mm, and 91.3%, and 100% in cancers >10 mm, respectively. The specificity was 93.8% for both planar and SPECT/CT imaging; accuracy was 79.2% for planar scans and 90.6% for SPECT/CT. FAM was useful in providing a precise anatomical localisation of the SPECT findings.
Conclusion: SPECT/CT scintimammography using a hybrid device is able to detect breast cancer, showing a sensitivity higher than that of planar images, especially for small cancers.