Abstract Technetium-99m (Tc99m)(v) Dimercaptosuccinic Acid (DMSA) is animaging agent which has been proposed as a scintigraphic marker for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Fifty-four patients were studied of whom 51 had a head and neck tumour. All patients were examined and then imaged using Tc99m(v) DMSA scintigraphy and computerized tomography. Scintigraphy was less sensitive than clinical examination in the detection of patients with cancer, patients with primary tumours and patients with metastatic neck disease. CT was as sensitive and as accurate as clinical examination but more senstive than Tc99m(v) DMSA in detecting patients with cancer and with primary tumours. CT was more sensitive and more accurate than both clinical examination and Tc99m(v) DMSA scintigraphy in predicting which patients had metastatic neck disease. Although Tc99m(v) DMSA is accumulated by squamous cell carcinoma, its inability to detect low volume disease and apparent low specificity means it has no role to play in the management of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Transient acquired B red cell antigen was found in a patient with inflammatory bowel disease. Removal of the affected portion of the bowel was associated with disappearance of the B antigen. This phenomenon has usually been recorded in association with neoplasms of the bowel, but appears to be a marker for the release of bacterial enzymes into the systemic circulation associated with breakdown of the normal bowel barrier to such materials.