Value of routine cerebral radionuclide angiography in pediatric brain imaging.

In addition to static brain images, cerebral radionuclide angiograms (CRAGs) were performed in 1,051 children to determine the value of routine radionuclide angiography. The CRAG resulted in a statistically significant increase in detection of abnormalities (p less than 0.01), as it provided the only evidence of confirmed abnormalities in 60 children (5.7%). The CRAG helped detect subdural fluid collections, cerebrovascular disease, and cerebral cysts, but it was of little value in detecting hydrocephalus. For maximum diagnostic yield, a CRAG should be performed with all pediatric brain-imaging studies.