Completion of the informed consent in radioguided surgery by the General Surgery and Nuclear Medicine services of a radioguided surgery unit.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the frequency of errors in informed consent documents in radioguided surgery in a third level hospital and to detect possible causes or factors associated with a greater risk of error. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Informed consent forms of a total of 369 radioguided surgery interventions, completed by the Nuclear Medicine and General Surgery services, were analyzed, and the degree of completion of the forms and its correlation with the physicians responsible, type of pathology, intervention, and waiting time were compared with the completion of consent by another specialty. RESULTS: Errors were identified in 22 consent forms from Nuclear Medicine and 71 from General Surgery. The most common error was the absence of identification of the physician responsible (17 in Nuclear Medicine, 51 in General Surgery), and the second most common was the absence of a document (2 in Nuclear Medicine, 20 in General Surgery). There were significant differences in the errors made depending on the doctor in charge, with no significant correlation with the other variables. CONCLUSIONS: The physicians responsible were the main factor associated with a greater risk of error in the completion of informed consent forms. Further studies are needed to analyze the causal factors and possible interventions to minimize errors.

PERCIST and Hopkins criteria and PET/CT metabolic parameters as prognostic factors in squamous head and neck cancer.

AIM: To assess the clinical utility of PERCIST and Hopkins criteria and changes in [18F]FDG PET/CT quantitative parameters as prognostic factors for progression-free survival (PFS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma treated by chemoradiotherapy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Forty patients (34 men) diagnosed with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma were retrospectively assessed over an interval of 8 years. PERCIST and Hopkins criteria were used to assess response to treatment. Variations in the metabolic parameters maximum SUV (ΔSUVmax), metabolic tumor volume (ΔMTV) and total lesion glycolysis (ΔTLG) between pre- and post-treatment PET/CT studies were also determined. The Cox regression model, ROC curves and the Kaplan-Meier method were used for the analysis of prognostic factors and survival curves. RESULTS: The mean follow-up was 39.4 months, with 24 progressions and 22 deaths. Both PERCIST and Hopkins criteria and the three metabolic parameters were predictive factors in the univariate analysis and only ΔSUVmax was in the multivariate analysis. Survival analysis showed statistically significant differences in PFS and CSS curves for the five parameters considered. CONCLUSION: Application of PERCIST and Hopkins criteria as well as ΔSUVmax, ΔMTV and ΔTLG from PET/CT studies proved to be prognostic factors for survival in patients in our setting for treating head and neck cancer. The results may help to personalize treatment.

67-Gallium SPECT/CT in febrile syndromes of unknown origin. / SPECT/TC con galio-67 en los síndromes febriles sin foco conocido.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Febrile syndromes of unknown origin (FSUO) are complex processes in hospital practice. Their management includes an exhaustive medical history and examination, as well as an extensive number of biochemical tests. If these are inconclusive, diagnostic imaging techniques such as SPECT/CT with 67-Gallium Citrate (67Ga-SPECT/CT) could play an important role. We evaluated its role in the management of FSUO in our healthcare area. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We reviewed 57 patients who underwent a 67Ga-SPECT/CT due to a FSUO (32 women and 25 men, age range: 32-83 years old) obtaining scintigraphic findings, previous treatments and final diagnosis. Values of sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values (VPP) and negative values (NPV) were obtained and compared with the results for PET/CT with 18Fluor-deoxy-glucose (18F-FDG PET/CT) found in the literature. RESULTS: The diagnoses found were: infection in 27/57 (47%), inflammatory disease in 15/57 (26%), neoplasm in 1/57 (1.75%) and patients without final diagnosis in 14/57 (24%). The statistical values of 67Ga-SPECT/CT were: sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of 67%, 93%, 97% y 48%, respectively which were slightly lower than those found for the 18F-FDG PET/CT (86%, 52%, 70% and 92%, respectively). The diagnostic yield was 73% which increased to 80% in the patients who lacked empirical treatment. CONCLUSION: Despite the better results of 18F-FDG PET/CT, 67Ga-SPECT/CT behaved as a useful technique in the management of FSUO. It is advisable to use it if 18F-FDG PET/CT is not available.

Pancreatic accessory spleen. False positive with 99mTc-Octreotide.

The case is presented on a patient with abdominal pain and suspicion of neuroendocrine tumor in the tail of the pancreas shown in the abdominal CT and MRI. Whole-body scintigraphy and abdominal SPECT/CT with 99mTc-octreotide were performed that showed a nodular lesion partially on the posterior side of the pancreas tail. This nodule showed faint tracer uptake, and was reported as probable neuroendocrine tumor. Partial pancreatectomy and splenectomy were performed, and the histological study identified the lesion as an ectopic spleen. There are similar cases in the literature that match these findings, but this lesion is still frequently diagnosed after performing unnecessary surgery. When an asymptomatic intrapancreatic mass is detected, an accessory spleen should be considered and specific diagnostic techniques should be performed, such as labeled and denatured red blood cell SPECT/CT.

Radioisotope synoviorthesis in paediatric and adolescent patients with haemophilia.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the outcome and adverse-effects of the radioisotope synoviorthesis in paediatric and adolescent patients with haemophilia. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Prospective study of historical cohort was conducted. A total of 20 consecutive haemophiliacs with a mean age of 13.1 years (range 4-17) were included with a mean follow-up of 64.9 months (range 18-109). The diagnosis of synovitis was established on the basis of clinical follow-up including radiological images (radiography and/or MRI). For evaluation, the classification proposed by Fernandez-Palazzi was used. INCLUSION CRITERIA: Patients aged less than 18 years old with haemophilia and more than one haemarthrosis in less than 3 months remaining a chronic synovitis despite prophylactic therapy intensification. EXCLUSION CRITERIA: Any contraindication for radionuclide synoviorthesis. Twenty-seven radioisotope synoviorthesis with (90)Y-citrate-colloid and/or (186)Re-sulphide-colloid were done. The effectiveness of the procedure was assessed through pre and posttreatment clinical comparison at 6 months after radioisotope synoviorthesis. RESULTS: Nineteen of the 27 synoviorthesis (70.3%) had a good or excellent response and 8 joints (29.7%) had partial response. It was necessary to repeat the procedure in 3 joints in 3 different patients, obtaining in all cases a good or excellent response. We appreciated inflammatory reaction after procedure in 4 cases (14.8%), which improved with analgesics and nonsteroidal anti-inflamatory drugs. None of the patients presented malignant or premalignant lesions during the follow-up. CONCLUSION: The radionuclide synoviorthesis is a very effective procedure in paediatric and adolescent patients with hemophilia, being a minimally invasive procedure, easy to perform, safe and with minimal side effects.