Localised forms of pulmonary amyloidosis.

Amyloidosis is a rare disorder caused by amyloid deposits in various organs and tissues resulting in vital organ dysfunction, eventually death. There are two forms of amyloidosis - systemic, characterized by multiple organs affected, and localized (focal). Localized forms of amyloidosis usually affect urinary bladder, skin and lungs. Pulmonary amyloidosis may be localized or systemic such as diffuse alveolo-septal pulmonary amyloidosis which usually accompanies systemic AL amyloidosis. Other two forms of pulmonary amyloidosis are tracheobronchial and nodular. All three forms are usually detected by accident when patients undergo chest examination for different reasons as most cases of pulmonary amyloidosis are asymptomatic. The prognosis of localized amyloidosis is good with 5-year overall survival being 90,6 %. In our case report we present three patients diagnosed with localized pulmonary amyloidosis at our center. In all cases the diagnoses were made following the resection of affected lung segments with no further treatment needed.

Prognostic value of myocardial perfusion imaging and coronary artery calcium measurements in patients with end-stage renal disease.

OBJECTIVE: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is highly prevalent in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), owing to clustering of traditional and uremic-specific risk factors. However, in this population asymptomatic course of CAD is common and it has been reported that myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) with single-photon emission tomography (SPET) has lower sensitivity. In the current study, we assessed the value of MPI gated-SPET and its combination with coronary artery calcium (CAC) score measurements in risk stratification of ESRD patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: MPI gated-SPET was performed with dual-headed SPET camera and CAC score measured by multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) system.There were tested 77 ESRD individuals. During the follow-up study, cardiac events (CE) defined as cardiac death or nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI) or the necessity for coronary revascularization were recorded. Univariate and stepwise multivariable Cox proportional hazards-models were used to identify the predictors of CE. RESULTS: Eighteen CE were recorded during the follow-up. They were significantly associated with higher summed stress scores on MPI, higher percentage of ischaemic myocardium, higher occurrence of defects in multiple territories and higher CAC score (all with P<0.05). Univariate Cox proportional hazard-models showed that severe perfusion abnormalities as well as CAC score ≥1000 were significantly associated with cardiac events (P<0.0001, P=0.0056). In stepwise Cox proportional hazards-models considering age, gender, history of diabetes mellitus, post-stress left ventricular stunning, the degree of perfusion abnormality and CAC score, only severe perfusion abnormalities and CAC score ≥1000 were independent predictors of CE. There was no CE in patients with normal perfusion, normal function and zero CAC score. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that combined evaluation of MPI and CAC can predict the outcome in ESRD individuals, while severe perfusion abnormality on gated-SPET and high CAC score ≥1000 are predictors of future cardiac events.

Prognostic value of stress-only and stress-rest normal gated SPECT imaging: higher incidence of cardiac hard events in diabetic patients who underwent full stress-rest imaging.

BACKGROUND: The European procedural guidelines for cardiac gated SPECT imaging demonstrate considerable variability in recommended administered radiopharmaceutical activity and imaging protocols. This study compared stress-only and stress-rest protocols to evaluate the safety of stress-only imaging, and to identify characteristics of patients who need full stress-rest imaging. METHODS: Patients referred for a chest pain were scheduled for stress-rest gated SPECT imaging. If the stress images were interpreted as normal according to the perfusion and left ventricular function, the examination of patients was finished and patients did not undergo the rest imaging. A total number of 1063 patients was included (mean age 61 ± 11 years). These patients have been followed for hard cardiac events, i.e. cardiac deaths or nonfatal myocardial infarction. RESULTS: During a follow-up of 3.2 ± 2.5 years, hard events occurred in 12 patients with normal SPECT and 59 with abnormal SPECT had hard events (0.7 vs. 3.6% /year, P < 0.001). Among the 536 patients with normal study, there was no significantly lower incidence of hard events in the subgroup of patients with stress-only imaging (0.6 vs. 0.8% /year, P = 0.641). Diabetes mellitus was an independent predictor of hard events in patients with normal SPECT (1.3 vs. 0.5%/year, P < 0.001). We found a higher incidence of hard events in diabetic patients with normal study with the necessity of full stress-rest imaging in comparison with those with stress-only imaging (1.7 vs. 0.7% /year, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the good prognosis of normal stress-only study. Diabetes mellitus was an independent predictor of hard events in patients with normal SPECT. Diabetic patients with normal results who required additional rest imaging had significant adverse outcome.

2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography examination in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia may reveal Richter transformation.

The significance of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) has not yet been systematically studied. This prospective study was aimed at assessing the benefit of PET/CT in patients with newly diagnosed or relapsed CLL and Richter transformation (RT). PET/CT examination was performed in 23 patients with newly diagnosed disease, 13 with relapsed disease and eight with suspected or histopathologically confirmed RT. In all patients, the maximum standardized uptake value (SUV(max)) was calculated. The median SUV(max) was 3.4 (range: 1.5-6.3) and 3.1 (range: 1.2-5.9) in newly diagnosed and relapsed patients, respectively. The median SUV(max) of patients with suspected or confirmed RT reached 16.5 (range: 7.2-25.3), a value different from that of the previous groups (p < 0.001). 2-[18F]fluoro- 2-deoxy-D-glucose ((18)F-FDG) PET/CT revealed inflammatory lesions in seven patients (16%) and synchronous tumors in two newly diagnosed patients. (18)F-FDG PET/CT may be a beneficial imaging method when used in individuals with CLL and suspected RT.