Abstract: Objective: To evaluate the application of ⁹⁹Tc^m-RBC blood pool scintigraphy in diagnosis of maxillofacial vascular malformations. Methods: Forty patients with clinically suspected maxillofacial vein malformations were examined by ⁹⁹Tc^m-RBC blood pool scintigraphy and the results were compared with MRI. The chi-square test was used to compare the significance. Results: The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of ⁹⁹Tc^m-RBC blood pool scintigraphy in diagnosis of maxillofacial vein malformations were 97.50%, 100.00%, and 100.00%, respectively. Thirty-nine of 40 patients who had maxillofacial vein malformations showed positive images (97.50%), and 1 patients showed false positive images (2.50%); 33 of 40 patients by MRI who had malignant tumors showed positive image (82.50%), and 7 patients showed negative image (7.50%). There was a significant difference between two groups by the chi-squre test (P＜0.05). Conclusion: It is suggested that 9Tcm-RBC blood pool scintigraphy can be used in diagnosis of maxillofacial vein malformations.

Key words: Maxillofacial, Vein malformations, Radioisotopes, Tomography, Blood pool scintigraphy