A new mobile self-dispensing and administering system for 18F-FDG: evaluation of operator dose reduction.

PURPOSE: Recently new mobile systems for dispensing positron emitters have been produced, designed to guarantee dispensing cycles in an aseptic environment. The aim of the present work was to assess the advantage of one of these systems in radiation protection of operators in clinical settings. METHODS: Recently, in our centre the new self-dispensing system named KARL100 by Tema Sinergie was adopted for 18F-FDG radiopharmaceuticals. The system is associated with an automatic Rad-inject infuser. The system that was previously used was a fixed isolator NMC DSI (Tema Sinergie), equipped with a µDDS-An activity fractioning system, together with a pneumatic post for the syringe delivery. The dosimetric evaluations on both systems were carried out through environmental measurements with an ionisation chamber and with the use of personal dosimeters. RESULTS: The operations of preparation and administration of 18F-FDG dose to the patient, with the use of Karl100 + RadInject, involve exposures much lower than those obtained by the fixed isolator. The average body exposure of the technician was reduced by 31%, and for the physician by 77%. On the extremities, the equivalent dose to the hands of the technician was reduced by 78%, and for the physician by 96%. Also the additional dosimeters worn by the technician confirmed the estimated environmental assessments. CONCLUSIONS: The exposures of the working personnel were significantly reduced with the introduction of the new KARL100 system.

Is the detection rate of 18F-choline PET/CT influenced by androgen-deprivation therapy?

PURPOSE: To evaluate if the detection rate (DR) of (18)F-choline (18F-CH) PET/CT is influenced by androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) in patients with prostate cancer (PC) already treated with radical intent and presenting biochemical relapse. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We have retrospectively evaluated (18)F-CH PET/CT scans of 325 consecutive PC patients enrolled in the period November 2009 to December 2012 previously treated with radical intent and referred to our centre to perform (18)F-CH PET/CT for biochemical relapse. Two different groups of patients were evaluated. group A included the whole sample of 325 patients (mean age 70 years, range: 49-86) who presented trigger PSA between 0.1 and 80 ng/ml (mean 5.5 ng/ml), and group B included 187 patients (mean age 70 years, range 49-86) with medium-low levels of trigger PSA ranging between 0.5 and 5 ng/ml (mean PSA 2.1 ng/ml); group B was chosen in order to obtain a more homogeneous group of patients in terms of PSA values also excluding both very low and very high PSA levels avoiding the "a priori" higher probability of negative or positive PET scan, respectively. At the time of examination, 139 patients from group A and 72 patients from group B were under ADT: these patients were considered to be hormone-resistant PC patients because from their oncologic history (>18 months) an increase of PSA levels emerged despite the ongoing ADT. The relationship between (18)F-CH PET/CT findings and possible clinical predictors was investigated using both univariate and multivariate binary logistic regression analyses, including trigger PSA and ADT. RESULTS: Considering the whole population, overall DR of (18)F-CH PET was 58.2 % (189/325 patients). In the whole sample of patients (group A), both at the univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis, trigger PSA and ADT were significantly correlated with the DR of (18)F-CH PET (p < 0.05). Moreover, the DR in patients under ADT (mean PSA 7.8 ng/ml) was higher than in patients not under ADT (mean PSA 3.9 ng/ml), (DR was 70.5 % and 48.9 %, respectively; p < 0.001), therefore, demonstrating the existence of a significant correlation between the DR of (18)F-CH PET and ADT. In group B patients only trigger PSA resulted a reliable predictor of the (18)F-CH positivity, since ADT was not correlated to the DR of (18)F-CH PET (p = 0.061). Also in group B the DR of (18)F-CH PET in patients under ADT was higher than in patients not under ADT (65.3 % and 51.3 %, respectively) but the difference was not significant without a statistically significant correlation in the Mann Whitney test (p = 0.456) therefore, suggesting the lack of correlation between DR (18)F-CH PET/CT and ADT. CONCLUSION: Similarly to previous published studies, in our series the overall DR of (18)F-CH PET/CT was 58 % and was significantly correlated to trigger PSA. The most important finding of the present study is that ADT does not negatively influence DR of (18)F-CH PET/CT in PC patients with biochemical relapse; therefore, it can be suggested that it is not necessary to withdraw ADT before performing (18)F-CH PET/CT.

Molecular imaging of pulmonary nodules.

OBJECTIVE: Lung nodules can be benign or malignant, reflecting many possible causes, ranging from inflammatory and infectious processes to neoplasms. Incidental detection on chest x-ray or thoracic CT often requires further evaluation by imaging or invasive procedures. CONCLUSION: Currently, 18F-FDG PET/CT offers both anatomic and metabolic characterization of lung nodules. Fluorine-18-thymidine, 11C-methionine, 68Ga-DOTA-somatostatin analogs, and 18F-dihydroxyphenylalanine may offer additional molecular information useful for diagnosis and treatment planning.

Role of ¹8F-choline PET/CT in suspicion of relapse following definitive radiotherapy for prostate cancer.

PURPOSE: The aims of the study were (a) to evaluate the diagnostic role, by means of positive detection rate (PDR), of ¹8F-choline (CH) positron emission tomography (PET)/CT in patients with prostate cancer treated with radiotherapy, with curative intent, and suspicion of relapse during follow-up, (b) to correlate the PDR with trigger prostate-specific antigen (PSA), (c) to investigate the possible influence of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) at the time of scan on PDR and (d) to assess distribution of metastatic spread. METHODS: ¹8F-CH PET/CT exams from 46 consecutive patients (mean age 71.3 years, range 51-84 years) with prostate cancer (mean Gleason score 6.4, range 5-8) previously treated by definitive radiotherapy and with suspicion of relapse with negative or inconclusive conventional imaging were retrospectively evaluated. Of the 46 patients, 12 were treated with brachytherapy and 34 with external beam radiation therapy. Twenty-three patients were under ADT at the time of the examination. Trigger PSA was measured within 1 month before the exam (mean value 6.5 ng/ml, range 1.1-49.4 ng/ml). Patients were subdivided into four groups according to their PSA level: 1.0 < PSA ≤ 2.0 ng/ml (11 patients), 2.0 < PSA ≤ 4.0 ng/ml (16 patients), 4.0 < PSA ≤ 6.0 ng/ml (9 patients) and PSA > 6.0 ng/ml (10 patients). Correlation between ADT and PDR was investigated as well as between PSA and distribution of metastatic spread. RESULTS: The overall PDR of ¹8F-CH PET/CT was 80.4% (37/46 patients), increasing with the increase of trigger PSA. PDR of ¹8F-CH PET/CT is not influenced by ADT (p = 0.710) even if PET performed under ADT demonstrated an overall higher PDR (82.6%). The majority of the patients (59%, 22/37 patients) showed local relapse only, confined to the prostatic bed; 22% of the PET/CT-positive patients (8/37 patients) showed distant relapse only (bone localizations in all of them), while the remaining 19% (7/37 patients) showed both local and distant (lymph node and bone) spread. CONCLUSION: ¹8F-CH PET/CT showed a high overall detection rate (80%), proportional to the trigger PSA (both for local and distant relapse) not influenced by ADT. ¹8F-CH PET/CT is proposed as a first-line imaging procedure in restaging prostate cancer patients primarily treated with radiotherapy.

Fifteen different 18F-FDG PET/CT qualitative and quantitative parameters investigated as pathological response predictors of locally advanced rectal cancer treated by neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to correlate qualitative visual response and various PET quantification factors with the tumour regression grade (TRG) classification of pathological response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) proposed by Mandard. METHODS: Included in this retrospective study were 69 consecutive patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). FDG PET/CT scans were performed at staging and after CRT (mean 6.7 weeks). Tumour SUVmax and its related arithmetic and percentage decrease (response index, RI) were calculated. Qualitative analysis was performed by visual response assessment (VRA), PERCIST 1.0 and response cut-off classification based on a new definition of residual disease. Metabolic tumour volume (MTV) was calculated using a 40 % SUVmax threshold, and the total lesion glycolysis (TLG) both before and after CRT and their arithmetic and percentage change were also calculated. We split the patients into responders (TRG 1 or 2) and nonresponders (TRG 3-5). RESULTS: SUVmax MTV and TLG after CRT, RI, ΔMTV% and ΔTLG% parameters were significantly correlated with pathological treatment response (p < 0.01) with a ROC curve cut-off values of 5.1, 2.1 cm(3), 23.4 cm(3), 61.8 %, 81.4 % and 94.2 %, respectively. SUVmax after CRT had the highest ROC AUC (0.846), with a sensitivity of 86 % and a specificity of 80 %. VRA and response cut-off classification were also significantly predictive of TRG response (VRA with the best accuracy: sensitivity 86 % and specificity 55 %). In contrast, assessment using PERCIST was not significantly correlated with TRG. CONCLUSION: FDG PET/CT can accurately stratify patients with LARC preoperatively, independently of the method chosen to interpret the images. Among many PET parameters, some of which are not immediately obtainable, the most commonly used in clinical practice (SUVmax after CRT and VRA) showed the best accuracy in predicting TRG.

Renal scintigraphy predicts global cardiovascular risk in hypertensive subjects with normal serum creatinine levels.

BACKGROUND. This cross-sectional study investigates the role of renal scintigraphy on cardiovascular (CV) risk stratification in normoalbuminuric, non-diabetic hypertensive subjects (HTs) free from CV disease and renal dysfunction. METHODS. In 200 HTs aged 55-75 years, glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was measured by technetium-99m-diethylene triamine pentacetic acid clearance during renal scintigraphy. Stage III chronic kidney disease (CKD) was defined as GFR < 60 ml/min/1.73 m(2). For comparing the impact of different methods for CKD diagnosis on CV risk stratification, CKD was also considered as GFR estimated by the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) equation and Cockcroft-Gault's formula. Target organ damage (TOD) was assessed by echocardiography and carotid ultrasonography. Gender-specific odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals for CKD were derived from a multiple stepwise logistic regression analysis. Global CV risk was stratified according to routine examinations, TOD and CKD. RESULTS. In 38% of cases, an unknown stage III CKD was found. Independent of age, CKD was predicted by history of hypertension (OR = 1.69, p = 0.0001), albuminuria (OR = 1.25, p = 0.0001), smoking (OR = 1.85, p = 0.028) and pulse pressure (OR = 1.21, p = 0.019) in men only. Men had an increased risk of CKD (OR = 2.62, p = 0.002) in comparison with women. Prevalence of TOD was significantly higher only in HTs having CKD diagnosed by renal scintigraphy; TOD and CKD assessment added to classic risk factors modified the CV risk stratification from low-moderate to high and very high. CONCLUSIONS. Renal scintigraphy is an important aid in risk stratification and should be performed in HTs aged >55 years. Pulse pressure was the main blood pressure component that predicted the risk of stage III CKD.

Comparison of methods for determination of glomerular filtration rate in hypertensive subjects with normal serum creatinine.

BACKGROUND: Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) measured through technetium-99m diethyl triamine penta-acetic acid (Tc(99m)DTPA) renal scintigraphy (rsGFR) was compared with that estimated (eGFR) from 24-h creatinine clearance (CrCl) and, using both the Cockcroft-Gault (CG) and Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) formulas, in a population of hypertensive subjects (HTs) with normal serum creatinine (SCr) levels. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In 200 normoalbuminuric (<30 mg/24 h) HTs 55-75 years old, without diabetes and history of coronary and cerebrovascular diseases, Pearson's correlation assess the relationship between rsGFR and eGFR. The Bland-Altman method was used to assess the agreement between rsGFR and eGFR, separately in subjects with low (<60 ml/min/1.73 m(2)) and normal (≥60 ml/min/1.73 m(2)) rsGFR. The span between -1.96 and +1.96 standard deviations of mean difference (bias) was calculated and used for this purpose. RESULTS: In 76 subjects, an unknown low renal function was found by Tc(99m)DTPA renal scintigraphy. In subjects with normal rsGFR the Bland-Altman analysis showed that the smallest span between rsGFR and eGFR was evident for ClCr values (26.0 ml/min/1.73 m(2)), whereas higher values were detected with the CG and MDRD formulas (41.0 and 40.4 ml/min/1.73 m(2), respectively). The same results were observed for low rsGFR, where a smaller span was found for ClCr (21.2 ml/min/1.73 m(2)), whereas CG and MDRD methods gave greater results (30.4 and 31.8 ml/min/1.73 m(2) respectively); no differences were found between genders. The degree of agreement for eGFR estimated with the CG and MDRD formulas was wider than that derived from ClCr, reflecting a greater between-methods variability and a considerable discrepancy of rsGFR values in the former than in the latter. CONCLUSIONS: In HTs with normal SCr values, Tc(99m)DTPA renal scintigraphy discovered un known renal organ damage in 38% of cases. If this methodology is not available, ClCr measurement should be preferred to estimate GFR whereas CG and MDRD formulas are of limited efficacy.

Reorganization of a Nuclear Medicine Department in Northern Italy During a 2-Month Lockdown for COVID-19 Pandemic.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak has profoundly changed the organization of hospital activities. We present our experience of reorganization of a nuclear medicine service settled in Northern Italy during the pandemic period of March and April 2020 characterized a government-mandated lockdown. Our service remained open during the whole period, performing approximately 80% of the routine practice, while maintaining it COVID-free despite the geographical context characterized by a high risk of infection. Reorganization involved all aspects of a nuclear medicine department, following local, national, and international guidelines for prioritizing patients, telephone and physical triages, deployment of appropriate personal protective equipment, social distancing, and logistic changes for scheduling examinations and disinfection procedures. All staff remained COVID-19-negative despite the unintentional admission of 4 patients who later turned out to be positive for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. These adopted measures would serve as the basis for safe nuclear medicine services in the post-lockdown phase.

Positron-emission tomography in gynaecologic malignancies.

INTRODUCTION: The role of (18)F-FDG PET in the management of gynaecologic malignancies remains unclear mainly due to the failure of clinicians to appreciate the significance of this imaging tool. However, this under utilisation is being actively re-addressed with a large number of reviews and studies, particularly in the last few years. METHODS AND RESULTS: PET has been shown to have high sensitivity and specificity in the evaluation of relapse and nodal disease in cervical cancer, while other uses such as staging and monitoring response to therapies being under further investigation. Similarly, promising results have been published in the use of PET in patients affected by endometrial cancer and uterine sarcomas for detecting lymph nodes metastasis and recurrent disease. In ovarian cancer, PET appears to have a great potential in staging and assessment of disease relapse. An important utility of PET in gynaecologic tumours, which is shared with a large number of other malignancies, is its value in positively changing the patients' management. CONCLUSION: The surge in studies using PET in gynaecological malignancies is in its early stages, and further studies are required to optimise the role of PET in these conditions.

Direct His bundle pacing preserves coronary perfusion compared with right ventricular apical pacing: a prospective, cross-over mid-term study.

AIMS: The His bundle is regarded as the most physiological site for ventricular pacing, in that it avoids the adverse effects of right ventricular apical pacing (RVAP). However, very few studies have compared the effects of direct His bundle pacing (DHBP) and RVAP. The aim of our study was the intra-patient comparison of myocardial perfusion corresponding to these two different pacing techniques, as perfusion expresses local workload and is related to long-term outcome. METHODS AND RESULTS: Twelve consecutive patients with standard pacemaker indication (9 male, 74 +/- 9 years) entered the study. Pacing leads were implanted in the right ventricular apex and directly in the His bundle, and were connected to different ports of the pacemaker. All patients first underwent 3 months of DHBP, followed by 3 months of RVAP. At the end of each 3-month period, myocardial perfusion was measured at rest using scintigraphy with Tc99m-SestaMIBI. The average values of perfusion were evaluated on a 20-segment basis. All patients also underwent clinical evaluation, echocardiography, and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI), to measure dyssynchrony, and a blood sample was taken for brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) assay. The perfusion score during DHBP pacing was significantly better than during RVAP (0.44 +/- 0.5 vs. 0.71 +/- 0.53, respectively; P = 0.011). None of the patients showed lower perfusion during DHBP than during RVAP. We found no significant difference in NYHA class, ventricular volumes, ejection fraction, or plasmatic BNP between DHBP and RVAP. However, mitral regurgitation (0.26 +/- 0.21 vs. 0.37 +/- 0.25; P < 0.001) and dyssynchrony (13.75 +/- 4.28 vs. 22.02 +/- 8.44; P = 0.008) were significantly less during DHBP than during RVAP. CONCLUSION: Direct His bundle pacing is superior to RVAP in preserving the physiologic distribution of myocardial blood flow and reducing mitral regurgitation and left ventricular dyssynchrony.

Diagnosis of infected total knee arthroplasty with anti-granulocyte scintigraphy: the importance of a dual-time acquisition protocol.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate clinical efficacy of a dual-time acquisition protocol consisting of early 4 h and delayed 20-24 h imaging with anti-granulocyte scintigraphy (LeukoScan) in the diagnosis of infection in painful total knee arthroplasty (TKA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy-eight consecutive patients with TKA (12 bilateral) were prospectively enrolled in the study from August 2004 to July 2005. All the patients had clinical and biochemical suspicious of infection, except for the 12 patients with bilateral painless prosthesis who had no signs and symptoms of loosening and/or infection and were considered as controls. TKA prostheses had been implanted 4 months to 9.5 years before our studies. Forty-three patients were on antibiotic therapy at the moment of scintigraphic examination, and treatment was not discontinued. All patients underwent LeukoScan examination by performing both early 4 h and delayed 20-24 h imaging. In addition to planar imaging SPECT was performed in 18 cases. A decrease in radiotracer uptake from early to delayed LeukoScan imaging was interpreted as an unspecific finding (negative for infection), while an increasing uptake was interpreted as a positive finding for the presence of infection. Three-phase Tc-MDP bone scan was also routinely performed by standard technique. Sensitivity and specificity of early and delayed LeukoScan imaging were calculated. RESULTS: Sensitivity for early and delayed imaging were 92.7%, while specificity was 78.4% for early imaging and 100% for delayed imaging approach. SPECT imaging did not add any significant information as regard to specificity in our experience. Eight false positive early scans were correctly diagnosed as negative at delayed imaging. Three false negative results were recorded. Sensitivity and specificity were similar when patients were on or off antibiotic therapy. Imaging was negative in all 12 controls. CONCLUSIONS: Our results, based on a large group of patients, suggest that delayed LeukoScan imaging is important in identifying false positive results detect at early imaging. Thus, a dual-time, 4 h early and 20-24 h delayed LeukoScan imaging approach should be recommended to increase the diagnostic accuracy of the scintigraphy, with the exception of patients with a negative early LeukoScan examination, in whom the acquisition of delayed imaging appears unnecessary. In our experience, concomitant antibiotic therapy did not influence the diagnostic value of LeukoScan.

Antigranulocyte scintigraphy in infected hip prosthesis: the diagnostic importance of delayed 20-24-h imaging and semiquantitative analysis.

AIM: To evaluate clinical efficacy of a dual-time acquisition protocol, which included 4 and 20/24-h imaging with antigranulocyte antibody scintigraphy (LeukoScan) combined with semiquantitative analysis in the diagnosis of infection in painful hip prosthesis. METHODS: Sixty-seven consecutive patients with hip prosthesis were enrolled in this research project: 35 females, 32 males, mean age of 56.3 years. All patients had clinical and biochemical suspicious of infection. Each prosthesis had been implanted 3 months to 12 years before enrollment in this study. Twenty-four patients were on antibiotic therapy at the time of scintigraphy. Seven patients had bilateral hip prosthesis, one painful and the other painless: the seven painless prostheses were considered controls. LeukoScan examination was performed both at early (4 h) and delayed (20/24 h) times. The scintigraphic data were assessed both by visual and semiquantitative methods by three experienced nuclear medicine physicians blinded to clinical, laboratory and radiographic results. The uptake was graded visually by a 4-point scale: intense=3, moderate=2, mild=1 and absent=0. The semiquantitative analysis was obtained by a region of interest (ROI) analysis used in the anterior views to measure the ratio between the mean radioactivity in the prosthesis and the background radioactivity in the early and delayed images. An increase in the intensity of uptake of at least one scale-step at visual analysis and 20% at semiquantitative ROI analysis at the dual-time (early vs. delayed) LeukoScan was considered consistent with infection, whereas a stable or decreasing pattern was judged a negative result. Three-phase 99mTc-hydroxymethane diphosphonate bone scan was also performed routinely. Final diagnosis was determined at surgery and/or long-term clinical and imaging follow-up. RESULTS: At visual analysis, sensitivity for both early and delayed imaging was 94%, whereas specificity was 71% for early imaging and 83% for early and delayed imaging approach. At semiquantitative ROI analysis, sensitivity remained 94%, whereas specificity rose slightly to 73% for early imaging and to 90% for early and delayed imaging combined. Of note, four false-positive early scans were diagnosed correctly as negative on delayed imaging showing a decreasing pattern in uptake intensity. Sensitivity and specificity were similar whether patients were on or off antibiotic therapy. CONCLUSION: Our data show that early imaging LeukoScan is highly sensitive in evaluating septic prosthesis, but it is not optimally specific. Although the dual-time LeukoScan is capable of significantly increasing specificity for detecting infection. The semiquantitative ROI analysis further increased the specificity. Concomitant antibiotic treatment did not seem to influence the diagnostic efficacy of LeukoScan scintigraphy in detecting infected hip prosthesis.

18F-FDG PET/CT of Generalized Arteritis.

A 75-year-old man presented with significant weight loss, persistent cough, single episode of frontotemporal pulsatile headache, and leg weakness. A paraneoplastic syndrome was suspected, and F-FDG PET/CT was performed. Diffuse, moderate-to-intense tracer symmetrical uptake of many large and medium arteries was unexpectedly noted. The peculiarity of this case is the extensive involvement of both large and medium head and neck and extremity vessels, whereas the aorta was relatively spared.

False-Positive 18F-FDG PET/CT Due to Filgrastim That Induced Extramedullary Liver Hematopoiesis in a Burkitt Lymphoma.

We report a case of Burkitt lymphoma with largely extranodal disease localizations at staging. Chemotherapy was given, thus obtaining a complete metabolic response in all previous disease sites as shown at a control PET, however associated to the appearance of new focal uptake areas in the liver; these findings were confirmed at US and MRI. Chemotherapy determined also neutropenia that was treated by filgrastim, followed by a prompt and important medullary response. Liver biopsy revealed extramedullary hematopoiesis, probably filgrastim induced. Filgrastim administration may cause false-positive findings in the liver at FDG PET.

How to harmonize SUVs obtained by hybrid PET/CT scanners with and without point spread function correction.

State of the art point-spread function (PSF) corrections implemented in positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) reconstruction improved image quality and diagnostic performance but caused an increase in the standardized uptake value (SUV) compared to a conventional OSEM reconstruction system. The EANM suggested one produce two reconstructions, one optimised for maximum lesion detection and one for semi-quantitative analysis. In this work we investigated an alternative methodology, using a single reconstruction data set together with a post-reconstruction algorithm for SUV harmonization. Data acquisition was performed on a Siemens Biograph mCT system equipped with lutetium oxyorthosilicat crystals, PSF and time-of-flight algorithms and on a General Electric Discovery STE system equipped with BGO crystals. Both a EANM double reconstruction method and a dedicated post-reconstruction algorithm (marketed as EQ-filter) were tested to harmonize the quantitative values of the two PET/CT scanners. For phantom measurements we used a NEMA IQ phantom and a Jaszczak cylindrical phantom equipped with small spheres (lesion to background ratios of 8:1 and 4:1). Several different reconstruction settings were tested in order to provide a general methodology. Data obtained by phantom measurements were validated on seven oncologic patients who performed a one-bed extra acquisition on a different scanner. The evaluation regarded 39 small lesions (diameters: 0.3-2.6 cm) and was performed by two experienced nuclear medicine physicians. The SUV recoveries measured with the PSF reconstruction exceeded those obtained by the OSEM reconstruction with deviations ranging from 16% to 150%. These discrepancies resulted below 7% applying the optimized value of the EQ.filter or the double-reconstruction methods. For each reconstruction setting the optimal value of the EQ.filter was identified in order to minimize these discrepancies. Patient data, analyzed by Wilcoxon statistical test, confirmed and validated phantom measurements. EQ.filter can harmonize SUV values between different PET/CT scanners using a single reconstruction optimized to maximum lesion detectability. In this way, the second reconstruction proposed by EANM/EARL is avoided.

Reconstruction parameters for 111In-pentetreotide SPECT: variability with respect to body weight and body region.

UNLABELLED: This study, which was based on a large series of consecutive patients imaged by (111)In-pentetreotide SPECT for a neuroendocrine tumor, evaluated variability in reconstruction parameters in relation to patient body weight and the body region imaged, looking for the possibility of standardizing such parameters. METHODS: One hundred twenty-four patients underwent (111)In-pentetreotide scintigraphy: 4- and 24-h whole-body and planar scans and a 24-h SPECT examination. All patients were injected with 140-150 MBq of (111)In-pentetreotide at least 1 wk after somatostatin analogs had been discontinued. SPECT images were systematically acquired at the levels of the head, chest, and abdomen. SPECT was performed using a dual-head gamma-camera with medium-energy collimators, step-and-shoot method, no circular orbit, a 64 x 64 matrix, and 30 s per view for a total of 64 views. Two reconstruction procedures were compared: the iterative method using 10 iterations and the filtered backprojection method using a Butterworth filter with different cutoffs and orders. RESULTS: Optimal SPECT images were obtained by applying the Butterworth filter. The reconstruction parameters could be standardized for the head and chest but were more variable for the abdomen, mainly because (111)In-pentetreotide is physiologically trapped in different intestinal areas and varies over time, especially in the liver, spleen, bowel, and urinary tract. CONCLUSION: Filtered backprojection using a Butterworth filter appears adequate for standardizing the reconstruction parameters for (111)In-pentetreotide SPECT of the head and chest. Processing of abdominal images is more operator-dependent. A 150-MBq dose of (111)In-pentetreotide is recommended when planning multiple SPECT acquisitions in the same patient.

Distant metastases of differentiated thyroid cancer: diagnosis, treatment and outcome.

The remarkably good prognosis and long-term survival in differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) are significantly reduced in patients with distant metastasis (DM). Multi-site metastases are associated with a high mortality rate reaching 92% at 5 years necessitating early diagnosis and treatment. The most common site of metastases are the lungs, followed by the bone, with the former having better prognosis than the latter due to late detection. A number of factors contribute to the development of DM including large and multifocal primary tumour, extrathyroidal extension, aggressive histology and advanced age. In patients with good (131)I uptake, (131)I therapy appears highly effective and should be offered up to a cumulative activity of 22 GBq. Other measures such as surgery, radiotherapy, arterial embolisation and cementoplasty may be required. If there is low or no (131)I uptake, FDG-PET should be obtained due to its prognostic impact. It may help in selecting patients for other modalities such as cytotoxic chemotherapy and redifferentiation therapy by 13-cis retinoic acid. The development of tyrosine kinase inhibitors has raised hopes in providing alternative therapy for bone metastasis, especially in older age groups with poorly differentiated tumours with no (131)I uptake but good uptake of FDG.

The prognostic value of 18F-FDG PET-CT in the management of Hodgkin's lymphoma: preliminary results of a prospective study.

BACKGROUND: To date, Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) patients have achieved long-term survival of more than 80%. Unfortunately, longer follow-up has shown serious adverse effects of the treatments used. For this reason, therapeutic strategies are becoming more tailored to the individual patient s prognosis. Pre-treatment risk factors for early-stage and advanced-stage HL are well known indicators of prognosis. Recently, early interim (18)F-FDG PET has been shown as a strong and independent predictor of progression-free survival in HL. Our aim was to assess response to therapy by repeating (18)F-FDG-PET/CT after four and six chemotherapy cycles. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We evaluated 21 consecutive patients affected by (HL) and presenting for assessment over a period of three years. All patients underwent initial staging with (18)F-FDG-PET/CT along with standard staging procedures. We tailored an individual treatment plan dependent on pre-treatment risk factors and initial (18)F-FDG-PET/CT. With the aim of the best definition of response to treatment, we repeated (18)F-FDG-PET/CT after two (FDG-PET 2), four (FDG-PET 4) and six (FDG-PET 6) chemotherapy cycles. Chemotherapy was typically given for four cycles in early disease stages and was prolonged to six to eight cycles in advanced disease stages, depending on PET findings. RESULTS: Our results showed a strong negative predictive value in detecting responders in early stage HL and a positive predictive value in advanced-stage patients. Clinical stage, extra-nodal sites and the positivity of the (18)F-FDG-PET/CT performed during chemotherapy were also noted as strong determinants of response to treatment. Moreover, in our series the (18)F-FDG-PET/CT data obtained after only two chemotherapy cycles (FDG-PET 2) were the same of those obtained after FDG-PET 4 and FDG-PET 6 controls. CONCLUSION: The preliminary data of the present study confirm those of previous published studies about the negative predictive value of (18)F-FDG-PET/CT performed after four and six chemotherapy cycles, which contributed to the decision to stop treatment and to avoid radiotherapy in HL patients. Nonetheless, our preliminary data seems to suggest that only the (18)F-FDG-PET/CT performed after two cycles of chemotherapy (FDG-PET 2) is able to provide the same prognostic information of the FDG-PET 4 and FDG-PET 6 earlier.

Bone edema of the whole vertebral body: an unusual case of spondyloarthritis.

Spondyloarthritis (SpA) is usually characterized by early inflammatory involvement of the sacroiliac joints (SI), which constitutes one of the most important classification criteria according to the SpondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS). These criteria do not include inflammatory spine lesions which can be detected on MRI, although spine involvement is very common in axial SpA. This is because spine MRI lesion often retrieved in SpA are not very specific, and can be found in many other diseases such as malignancy and osteoarthritis. Here we present the case of a 33-year old woman who presented a worsening low back pain, with a thoracic spine MRI showing bone marrow edema (BME) of the whole T8 vertebral body. Owing to this peculiar presentation, together with the unresponsiveness of the pain to nonsteroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and a slight increase of the biomarker CA19-9, a malignancy was suspected. Therefore, the patient underwent bone scintigraphy, Single positron emission computed tomography (SPET/TC), positron emission tomography and repeated MRI without reaching a diagnosis. Finally, when SI joints MRI was performed, BME of the SI joints emerged: this was fundamental to formulate the diagnosis of axSpA.