[Gammagraphy with 111In-labelled leukocytes in an acute outbreak of inflammatory intestinal disease. Evaluation of the localization, extension and degree of activity].

We have studied 59 patients suspected of presenting an acute bout of inflammatory bowel disease: 23 had Crohn's disease and 36 had ulcerative colitis. All them underwent scintigraphic examination using 111In labelled leukocytes during the first 72 hours after their admittance and in a period no longer than 30 days, they also underwent barium enema and/or endoscopic study. Scintigraphic examination was more sensitive (100%), specific (100%) and accurate (100%) than endoscopy (72%, 100% and 78%) and barium enema (69%, 80% and 71%) in Crohn's disease. In ulcerative colitis, although endoscopy (100%) was slightly more sensitive than scintigraphy (100% and 94% against 78% and 93%). Reliability of barium enema was always lower to that of scintigraphy. In both conditions, scintigraphic examination detected a higher number of affected segments than barium enema did (40/16 in Crohn's disease and 65/31 in ulcerative colitis). Correlation between the index of scintigraphic activity and Harvey's index of clinical and biologic activity was highly significant (p less than 0.001) in both diseases. We conclude that scintigraphic examination using 111In labelled leukocytes is a reliable examination method for evaluation of localization, extension, and degree of activity of inflammatory bowel disease and that it must be a part of the examination protocol.