Combination of renal and adrenal scanning in the diagnosis of renovascular hypertension: case report.

Superimposition of an adrenal scan on a renal scan revealed a kidney defect not appreciated on the renal scan alone. The defect proved to be ischemia of the upper pole of the kidney. Resection of the lesion alleviated the patient's hypertension.

Significance of abnormal blood pressure response during exercise-induced myocardial dysfunction after recent acute myocardial infarction.

The relation between exercise left ventricular ejection fraction and blood pressure (BP) responses after an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was investigated. Twenty-eight to 37 days after an uncomplicated AMI, 224 consecutive patients underwent exercise radionuclide angiography in the 40 degrees semisupine position. In 180 patients (group A, 80%), BP increased more than 5 mm Hg every stage; in 44 patients, BP responses were abnormal; in 33 (group B, 15%), BP did not increase during 2 stages; in 11 (group C, 5%), it decreased more than 5 mm Hg after an initial increase. Ejection fraction did not differ significantly among the 3 groups at rest (51 +/- 13 in group A, 50 +/- 18 in group B, 47 +/- 13 in group C [difference not significant]) or at peak exercise (51 +/- 16% in group A, 46 +/- 19% in group B, and 43 +/- 16% in group C, [difference not significant]). Exercise-induced left ventricular failure or hemodynamic decompensation occurred in 22 patients. In these patients, ejection fraction at rest was 44 +/- 19% and decreased to 35 +/- 16% (p less than 0.05) with exercise. Only 9 of these patients (41%) had abnormal BP responses, with the other 13 (59%) showing a normal BP responses. The The 35 patients with abnormal BP responses in the absence of hemodynamic decompensation were asymptomatic, terminating exercise because of fatigue. The ejection fraction at rest and during exercise in these patients was similar to that in patients with normal BP responses.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Clinical experience with recombinant human thyrotrophin (rhTSH) in the management of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer.

The purpose of this work was to gain clinical experience with and to identify the optimal conditions for the use of recombinant human TSH (rhTSH, commercially available as Thyrogen) in the management of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). The study involved 22 patients for a total of 27 administration cycles of rhTSH, for either diagnostic (in 19 instances) and/or therapeutic purposes (in 8 instances). There were 19 patients with papillary cancer (follicular variant in 4, columnar variant in 1) and 3 patients with follicular cancer (1 Hurtle cell variant). All patients had previously undergone total thyroidectomy and 1-5 cycles of 131I-therapy. Thyrogen was administered i.m. according to the suggested protocol: 0.9 mg i.m. on days 1 and 2, radioiodine on day 3. Peak serum TSH levels between 68-237 microIU/mL were observed after rhTSH administration; these were on average 65% higher, on a patient-by-patient basis, than peak serum TSH observed after conventional withdrawal of thyroxine treatment in 19 patients, while in 3 patients they were 28% lower, but still in the potent stimulation range (86-94 microIU/mL). There was general agreement between imaging results obtained under rhTSH stimulation and those obtained on prior occasions during thyroxine withdrawal, although radioiodine uptake was interpreted as less intense following Thyrogen administration. Of 18 patients undergoing rhTSH administration for diagnostic purposes, 11 patients had a negative radioiodine whole-body scan (WBS) and 7 had a positive WBS. Three of the WBS-negative patients were shown to be actually affected by tumor recurrence, respectively by PET with [18F]FDG (in 2 cases) and by post-131I therapy scan. Serum thyroglobulin (hTg) increased to abnormal levels following rhTSH stimulation in 3/7 of the WBS-positive patients as well as in 1/11 WBS-negative patients. In 3/7 WBS-positive as well as in 3/11 WBS-negative patients, serum hTg progressively rose under rhTSH stimulation, yet still remaining below 3 ng/mL. Post-131I therapy scans following Thyrogen administration showed good radioiodine uptake in 7/8 patients, the single unsuccessful case being most likely due to expansion of the iodine pool because of recent use of an iodinated contrast medium. The overall results show the feasibility and practical advantages of employing rhTSH stimulation in the general clinical setting rather than thyroxine withdrawal in the management of DTC patients. Caution should be raised on the interpretation of the serum hTg response to such potent but short-lived TSH stimulation.

Radioguided occult colonic lesion identification (ROCLI) during open and laparoscopic surgery.

AIMS AND BACKGROUND: Intraoperative localization, during open and laparoscopic surgery, of small, nonpalpable colonic lesions located at peculiar sites or with concurrent inflammatory bowel alterations (diverticulosis, perivisceritis) is often difficult. The aim of our work was to assess the validity of radioguided identification after preoperative labeling. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: Patients who were candidates for colon surgery for occult lesions that, because of their size and location, were assumed to be difficult to detect, underwent colonoscopy 1 to 2.5 hours before surgery. A small dose of labeled albumin macroaggregates was injected with a sclerotherapy needle into the subserosa underneath the lesion. Immediately following the injection the lesion was identified with a transcutaneously placed gamma detecting probe. Intraoperative tracer detection was performed either during open surgery or by means of a laparoscopic probe (detection time 3-5 mins). The position of the lesion was marked with a suture or with a clip. Surgery was performed according to the type of lesion to be treated. RESULTS: In our initial clinical experience 15 colon lesions were preoperatively marked in 14 patients and were subsequently detected during surgery (four under laparoscopy) with a gamma detecting probe. This technique allows highly accurate, fast, and inexpensive surgical localization of lesions without irradiation and without complications. CONCLUSION: Our experience shows that preoperative endoscopic marking of nonpalpable colon lesions with 99mTc-labeled albumin macroaggregates followed by intraoperative detection with a gamma probe is a useful clinical method that is highly accurate and without complications.

Intrahepatic arterial flow distribution after ligation of a right replaced hepatic artery. A case report.

A basic requirement for arterial chemotherapy of liver tumors is complete catheter perfusion of the liver. In cases with atypical anatomy of the hepatic artery, it is frequently impossible to obtain this goal by means of a single catheter. In a patient with a right replaced hepatic artery, the aberrant vessel was ligated and the left hepatic artery was perfused through a catheter inserted into the gastroduodenal artery. Perfusion scans performed through the catheter 14 and 135 days after arterial ligation showed a fall in the arterial flow to the right liver (right/left ratio 0.43 and 0.60). In contrast, a nearly complete perfusion of the liver (0.91 right/left ratio) was obtained 28 days after ligation, when the perfusion scan was performed immediately after catheter infusion of 90,000,000 degradable starch microspheres (DSM: diameter = 40 m). DSM administration is supposed to increase back pressure in the lobe receiving native circulation, thus activating intrahepatic collateral flow to the ischemic lobe. As regards regional treatment of liver tumors, obvious conclusions are to be drawn.

[Use of 99mTc-HMPAO SPECT in the study of AIDS-correlated dementia]. / Impiego della SPECT con 99mTc-HMPAO nello studio della demenza AIDS correlata.

AIDS dementia complex is a well-defined neurological manifestation of the HIV infection. Its anatomo-pathological pattern is cerebral atrophy, grey and white matter abnormalities and vascular changes, and the main symptom is progressive dementia. SPECT with Tc 99m HMPAO has proved to be an useful tool in studying Alzheimer and multi-infarct dementia, and its use has been recently proposed in AIDS-dementia. We studied with Tc 99m HMPAO 57 Pts (11 HIV+, 26 ARC, 17 AIDS) and control group of 7 drug-addicted seronegative Pts. We found positive results in 45% SPECT, 18% CT, 0% neurological tests of dementia in HIV+ phase, versus 52%, 41, 20% in ARC phase and 94%, 88% and 76% in AIDS phase, while all control Pts were negative. Control group is too small to exclude with all possibility of doubt cerebral blood flow impairment caused by drug damage but nevertheless we think that SPECT examination with 99 mTc HMPAO has an important role in assessing CBF changes in earlier stages of AIDS disease. These changes are probably forerunners of definitive cerebral damage and may be important markers of the advancement of disease.

[The role of endorectal echography for determining the extent of an operation]. / Rol' éndorektal'noi ékhografii dlia opredeleniia ob''ema operatsii.

The paper discusses the usefulness of endorectal echotomography and adenolymphoscintigraphy--two new diagnostic methods which allow surgeons to know preoperatively tumor extension beyond the rectal wall and lymph nodes involvement. Though the statistical data presented are not numerous, it is hoped that, using these two diagnostic methods in cases of rectal tumors, surgeons will be able to choose better between local excision and abdominoperineal resection thus avoiding unnecessary and mutilating operations.

[Nuclear imaging in AIDS-related neurologic diseases]. / Imaging medico-nucleare nel neuro-AIDS.

A total of 356 patients with HIV-1 infection at different immunological and neurologic stages were included in this study. Patients with CNS opportunistic signs were excluded. All patients underwent SPET with HMPAO-99mTc; 166 patients were submitted to brain CT and 48 to MRI no later than 30 days after SPET examination. A control group of 12 intravenous drug users with no HIV infection was also examined. In the control group all SPET exams were negative; more positive SPET exams were observed with the progression of clinical and neurologic disease. No correlation was found between SPET positivity and immunological stage. In the asymptomatic stage 54% of SPET findings were positive. SPET was more sensitive than both CT and MRI in defining the abnormal changes of the earlier stages of this syndrome. Since opportunistic infections and neoplasms were excluded from this study and a control group was also considered, our results may indicate a major activity of HIV in the brain and suggest the need to monitor the earlier stages of this disease as well.

[Clinical applicability of myocardial scintigraphy with gallium-67 in the study of dilated cardiomyopathy]. / Applicabilità clinica della scintigrafia miocardica con 67gallio nello studio delle cardiomiopatie dilatative.

Gallium-67-citrate imaging has been recently proposed, in addition to endocardial biopsy, to detect myocardial inflammation in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDCM). In order to evaluate the clinical usefulness of this method, 33 patients (pts) suffering from IDCM, 24 pts with various other cardiac diseases (inflammatory etiology in 7), and 11 controls underwent Gallium-67 scintigraphy (anterior and 30 degrees left anterior oblique projections; acquisition at 48 and 72 hrs). In 31 pts repeated scintigraphic examinations (at least two) were obtained. Scans were interpreted by two independent observers. Positivity of scintigrams was based on three different criteria: 1) myocardial activity greater than that of the sternum; 2) presence of focal myocardial activity; 3) semiquantitative index (index = activity of sternum/myocardial activity). Significant differences, either in the percentage of positive scans or in the values of the semiquantitative index, were found between controls and all pts with cardiac diseases. However, no difference was observed when comparing pts with IDCM to pts with other cardiac diseases. Finally, among the pts with cardiac disorders other than IDCM, the qualitative and semiquantitative results of the 7 pts with inflammatory etiology of the disease were similar to those obtained in the remaining 17. Of those pts who underwent longitudinal study, about a third showed modified scintigraphic results later on. No significant difference in behaviour was observed between IDCM and other cardiac disorders. Therefore, we conclude that Gallium 67-citrate imaging does not appear to be a suitable method for the identification of pts. with IDCM. The usefulness of this technique should be tested in samples of pts should previously selected with other more specific methods.

[Normal behavior during the exercise test of the left ventricular ejection fraction determined by an angioscintigraphic method]. / Sul comportamento normale durante sforzo della frazione di eiezione ventricolare sinistra determinata con metodo angioscintigrafico.

UNLABELLED: The correct definition of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) normal response to exercise is still debated. The lack of unanimous agreement firstly depends on the different normality criteria adopted in literature. In order to make ligh, we carefully reviewed several papers on this matter, and performed exercise radionuclide angiography (RNA), by multiple gated blood pool, in 2 different populations. I group: 39 normal subjects, selected on the basis of normal clinical examinations, ECG, X-ray film, exercise test, at rest LVEF greater than 50%: 20 males, mean age 43 +/- 13%. II group: 22 patients, abnormal from the clinical point of view, but elsewhere included in control groups: 13 males, mean age 54 +/- 9%. 14 of them refer only atypical chest pain, in 5 the sole abnormal finding is an exercise-induced ST depression greater than 1 mm, in 2 a left bundle branch block at rest, 1 patient suffers from X syndrome. Symptom limited exercise RNA was carried out by adopting a semi supine (40 degrees) cycloergometer, with a 25 watt initial workload and 25 watt subsequent increases every 3 minutes; count acquisition lasted 2 minutes, from the end of the 1st to the end of the 3rd, during each stage of the test. RESULTS: I group: constant LVEF increment during exercise in all subjects: mean LVEF at rest was 65 +/- 8%, at maximum workload 80 +/- 8%: mean increase was 15 +/- 7%.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Experience with local rectal cancer excision in light of two recent preoperative diagnostic methods.

This study analyzes the usefulness of two diagnostic methods: endorectal echotomography and adenolymphoscintigraphy. Echotomography is an important means for determining the extent of a tumor beyond the rectal wall, whereas lymphoscintigraphy is useful in demonstrating the metastatic locations in lymph nodes. These two modes of evaluation may permit an evaluation of the extent of the tumor and the possible involvement of regional lymph nodes before a surgical operation. Although the case material is limited, the statistical data can lead one to believe that, in the near future, a reasoned choice will be possible between local excision and abdominoperineal resection. The study includes 60 endorectal echotomographies and 26 lymphoscintigraphies (20 with 99mTc colloid and six with 201-Tl colloid).

Starch microsphere-induced arterial flow redistribution after occlusion of replaced hepatic arteries in patients with liver metastases.

In four patients with major anomalies of the hepatic artery undergoing intra-arterial chemotherapy, aberrant lobar vessels were ligated and catheters were inserted into the contralateral artery. Catheter perfusion scans performed early after ligation with 99mTc-macroaggregated albumin (MAA) showed a defective perfusion of the lobe supplied by the occluded artery (0.43, 0.23, 0.11, and 0.28, respectively, as compared to the contralateral lobe). Further MAA scans performed after catheter infusion of 90,000,000 parts of degradable starch microspheres (DSM) showed a near normal perfusion of the ischemic lobe (0.91, 0.96, 0.87, and 0.98). On the contrary, simple MAA scans performed in the first two patients 114 and 135 days after ligation showed a still defective arterial perfusion of the ischemic lobe (0.60, and 0.24). The DSM-induced redistribution of flow towards ischemic portions of the liver suggests a possible new role of DSM in regional treatment of liver tumors in cases with either occlusion of aberrant vessels or "hypovascular" tumors.

Predicting severe ischemic events after uncomplicated myocardial infarction by exercise testing and rest and exercise radionuclide ventriculography.

BACKGROUND: In 183 patients with uncomplicated myocardial infarction, exercise-induced angina, ST segment depression, decrease in ejection fraction, or inadequate increase in systolic blood pressure and low exercise tolerance were significantly associated with 4-year incidence of hard ischemic events. METHODS AND RESULTS: Only the onset of both ST segment depression and a decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction with exercise was an independent predictor. ST segment depression and decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction had low sensitivity (61% and 70%) and specificity (56% and 51%) for hard ischemic events, but specificity increased to 78% when both were present. During medical therapy, 22 of 53 patients with both ST segment depression and a decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction with exercise had an ischemic event (i.e., 48.1% 4-year probability on Kaplan-Meier analysis vs 19.2% in the remaining 130 patients [p < 0.0005]). CONCLUSIONS: Even if no single variable, derived from exercise testing, is a highly sensitive and specific predictor, specificity increases to a clinically relevant level by combining ST segment depression and a decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction with exercise, and in this way patients with recent infarction may be selected for coronary arteriography.

Activity of left ventricular thrombi of different ages. Assessment with indium-oxine platelet imaging and cross-sectional echocardiography.

To evaluate the possible relation between the age of intracardiac thrombi and the presence and degree of their activity, 29 patients with left ventricular thrombi that developed after an anterior myocardial infarction were evaluated by means of 111In-oxine autologous platelet imaging. None of the patients was treated with anticoagulants or platelet inhibitors during either the acute phase of infarction or the follow-up. The time of appearance and the shape of left ventricular thrombi were assessed by serial cross-sectional echocardiograms, obtained within 24 hours of onset of the chest pain, every 24 hours until the fifth day, every 48 hours until the 15th day, and then every month for a follow-up of 1 to 17 months (mean: 8 months). At the time of the scintigraphic examination, left ventricular thrombi were aged 1 month in 9 patients, and 2 to 14 months in the remaining 20 patients. 111In-oxine imaging with autologous platelets was obtained in all patients at 4, 24, 48 and 72 hours, in the sagittal, 30 degrees and 45 degrees left anterior oblique projections. In 25 patients the degree of haematological activity of the thrombi was evaluated by dividing the values of thrombus activity/background activity, obtained at 4, 24, 48 and 72 hours, respectively, by the value observed at 4 hours (uptake index). Scintigraphic imaging showed the presence of an active thrombus in every patient. In the 9 patients with recent thrombi, the uptake index was significantly greater than in subjects with older ones (P less than 0.01). Hence, in patients with anterior myocardial infarction, untreated with anticoagulants or platelet inhibitors, haematologically active thrombi can be observed even more than one year after their appearance. The uptake of platelets on the surface of thrombi is greater in recent left ventricular thrombi than in older ones.

Radioimmunoimaging in malignant melanoma with monoclonal antibodies.

Twenty-five patients with cutaneous melanoma were imaged with F(ab')2 fragments of antimelanoma monoclonal antibody (MoAb) 225.28S labeled with 99mTc and 131I or 111In. Out of 16 patients without evidence of metastatic lesions, 6 false-positive cases were observed. Only 4 out of 9 patients with known lesions showed positive findings (globally 8 of 19 metastatic sites). In conclusion, antimelanoma MoAb was of little help in radioimaging and stating this disease.