Elevated (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose uptake in the interventricular septum is associated with atrioventricular block in patients with suspected cardiac involvement sarcoidosis.

PURPOSE: Cardiac involvement in sarcoidosis is one of the leading causes of death associated with abnormalities of the conduction system. (18)F-FDG PET is useful for detecting inflammatory lesions in cardiac sarcoidosis. However, the relationship between ECG abnormalities and focal (18)F-FDG uptake has not been studied. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between electrocardiogram (ECG) abnormalities and the location of elevated myocardial (18)F-FDG uptake in patients with sarcoidosis. METHODS: Included in the study were 50 patients (56.3 ± 14.9 years old) with histologically proven sarcoidosis with suspected cardiac involvement based on ECG or echocardiography. All patients had fasted for at least 6 h and were given unfractionated heparin (50 IU/kg) intravenously to reduce the physiological (18)F-FDG uptake in the myocardium. The left ventricle (LV) wall was divided into 17 segments by visual analysis. Obvious accumulation in each segment was defined as positive. RESULTS: Of the 50 patients, 33 showed some ECG abnormalities, including atrioventricular (AV) block in 13. Patients with abnormal ECG findings had a higher number of regions with (18)F-FDG uptake than patients without ECG abnormality (3.48 ± 2.73 vs. 1.41 ± 2.09 regions, p = 0.0051). Among ECG abnormalities, the predictor for interventricular septum wall (18)F-FDG involvement was AV block (p = 0.0025). CONCLUSION: Patients with ECG abnormalities showed a higher number of abnormal (18)F-FDG myocardial uptake regions than patients without ECG abnormalities. In particular, focal (18)F-FDG uptake in the interventricular septum in cardiac sarcoidosis was associated with AV block. Therefore, determination of regional (18)F-FDG distribution might contribute to patient management in cardiac sarcoidosis.

Bone mineral density: correlation between the lumbar spine, proximal femur and Radius in northern Thai women.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the correlation of bone mineral density (BMD) in lumbar spine, proximal femur and 1/3 radius in northern Thai women. MATERIALS AND METHOD: The data of this study was collected from the medical records and the BMD results of 885 perimenopausal and postmenopausal women who had the BMD measurement in Division of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University between January and December 2007. BMD was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (Hologic, QDR-4500C). RESULTS: Mean age (+/- SD) was 58.7 +/- 9.9 year. The lowest T-score was found 51.6% at lumbar spine (LS), 29.2% at 1/3 radius, 13.8% at femoral neck (FN), 2.9% at total femur (TF) and 2.5% at trochanter region (TR). We found a significant correlation between age, BMI, duration of menopause, and BMD at the LS, TFE FN, TR and 1/3 radius (p < 0.01). The correlation between the BMD measures at LS and TF FN, TR and 1/3 radius were 0.708, 0.667, 0.721 and 0.633, respectively (p < 0 01). Women with perimenopausal status had higher height and BMD values at all five observed sites than postmenopausal women (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The present found a good correlation of the BMD from various skeletal sites. Interestingly, the correlation was found highest between the LS vs. TR and TF vs. TR region. Clearly, estrogen-deficient plays important role on the low BMD values in all skeletal sites.

Excretory urography and renal scintigraphy for chronic obstructed kidney: does nonopacity mean nonsalvageability?

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to ascertain whether nonopacified kidney on excretory urography (also known as intravenous urography [IVU]) indicates nonsalvageability. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 45 adult patients with chronic unilateral urinary tract obstruction, in whom IVU revealed nonopacified kidney on one side but normal excretion on the contralateral side. Affected kidneys with split glomerular filtration rate (GFR) < 10 mL/min/1.73 m2 on 99mTc-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid diuretic renal scintigraphy were considered nonsalvageable. Non-function was defined based on cutoff points (< 15% and < 20%) to determine the sensitivity and specificity of differential renal function. Differences in IVU and renal scintigraphy findings, with respect to the duration of delayed filming on IVU, were analysed for significance. RESULTS: The results of IVU and renal scintigraphy findings for 34 (75.6%) nonopacified kidneys matched, representing nonsalvageable kidneys. Sensitivity and specificity of differential renal function were 76% and 100%, respectively, when the cutoff point for non-function was set at < 15%. Sensitivity and specificity were 97% and 82%, respectively, when the cutoff point was < 20%. There was no significant difference between renal scintigraphy findings and IVU with 2-hour and > 2-hour delayed films (p = 0.96). CONCLUSION: Although most nonopacified kidneys on IVU were nonsalvageable, a quarter of them were found to be salvageable on renal scintigraphy. Besides split GFR, differential function at cutoff point < 15% could be used to determine non-function of a chronic obstructed kidney when the contralateral kidney is normal. Delayed filming beyond two hours appears unnecessary in ensuring non-excretion on IVU.

Cardiac (18)F-FDG PET/CT with heparin detects infective vegetation in a patient with mechanical valve replacement.

We report the usefulness of F-FDG PET/CT for the detection and therapy evaluation of the infective vegetation. A 64-year-old man with history of aortic valve replacement presented with 2 months of fever without identifiable cause. Echocardiogram showed no inflammation vegetation or abnormality of mechanical valve function. FDG PET/CT with 50 IU/kg IV heparin revealed focal uptakes near the mechanical aortic valve. After antibiotics therapy, fever was ameliorated, and FDG PET/CT findings showed markedly decreased uptake of the lesions. FDG PET/CT is a powerful tool to detect endocarditis even in patients with no anatomical abnormalities.