Technetium Tc-99m ciprofloxacin

Technetium Tc-99m ciprofloxacin is a radiopharmaceutical agent that combines the fluoroquinolone antibiotic ciprofloxacin with the radioisotope technetium Tc-99m. It is primarily investigated as a diagnostic imaging agent for detecting sites of bacterial infection, including fever of unknown origin, osteomyelitis, wound infection, abdominal abscess, pneumonia, appendicitis, and tuberculosis. The mechanism involves the antibiotic portion binding to bacterial DNA gyrase—an enzyme essential for DNA supercoiling in bacteria—while the attached Tc-99m enables visualization via nuclear medical imaging techniques such as SPECT. There remains some controversy regarding its specificity in distinguishing between sterile inflammation and true bacterial infection[1][2][4][6][8].

Brand names

Infecton

Other names

technetium tc-99m ciprofloxacin