An Extraordinary Location of Sentinel Lymph Nodes in a Patient with Endometrial Cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To show dissection of sentinel lymph nodes. DESIGN: A step-by-step demonstration of the technique with narration. SETTING: Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common gynecologic malignancy worldwide. Sentinel lymph node biopsy with indocyanine green (ICG) has become more widely used and has been featured in recently published guidelines for EC [1]. Minimally invasive approaches with the sentinel lymph node concept (conventional laparoscopy, laparoscopic-assisted vaginal surgeries or robotic) to EC staging have resulted in lower rates of peri- and postoperative complications than conventional staging procedures [2]. INTERVENTIONS: No video article has been published in the literature about high pelvic, para-aortic sentinel lymph node dissection. An informed consent form was obtained from the patient. An institutional review board approval was not required. A 45-year-old female with gravidity 0, parity 0, and body mass index of 23.4 kg/m2 presented with complaints of abnormal uterine bleeding (spotting). Increased endometrial thickness was detected on transvaginal ultrasound (10 mm) in the postmenstrual period. Endometrioid-type endometrial adenocancer with focal squamous differentiation International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics grade I was detected on endometrial biopsy. The patient had hepatitis B virus positivity and no other chronic disease. A laparotomic myomectomy had been performed in 2016. Laparoscopic high pelvic, low para-aortic sentinel lymph node dissection with ICG and hysterectomy (without uterine manipulator) + bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy were performed (Supplemental Video 1). The operation time for the procedure was 110 minutes and the estimated blood loss was <20 mL. No major complications occurred during or after the surgery. The patient stayed in the hospital for 1 day. The final pathology result showed an International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics grade I, endometrioid-type endometrial adenocancer with focal squamous differentiation, as a 1.5 × 1 cm tumorous mass invading less than one-half of the myometrium. Neither lymphovascular invasion nor sentinel lymph node metastasis was detected. A multicenter, prospective study showed that sentinel lymph node dissection with ICG in clinical stage 1 EC is feasible and has a high degree of diagnostic accuracy in detecting EC metastases. In that study, isolated para-aortic sentinel lymph node was detected in 3 of 340 patients (<1%) [2]. Another study reported the detection rate of isolated para-aortic sentinel lymph node to be 1.1% in patients with intermediate- and high-risk EC [3]. CONCLUSION: There are in some cases 2 distinct channels emanating from one side, and it is important to follow each and to acknowledge there may be more than one sentinel, one of which is lower in a typical location and one higher as in this case. This video article is the first video demonstration of bilateral isolated high pelvic, para-aortic sentinel lymph node dissection in EC.

Clinical significance of standardized uptake values in thyroid incidentaloma discovered by F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography.

AIM OF STUDY: While using F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography computed tomography (PET/CT) for other than thyroid disease, an increased frequency of incidentally discovered areas of focally or diffuse increased uptake within the thyroid gland can be seen. We aimed to find the focal thyroid FDG uptake and compare the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) results with cytology and histology results. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We examined PET scan reports for all patients undergoing FDG PET/CT investigation over a 10-year period in a single center. Twelve thousand seven hundred and ninety-six patients underwent FDG PET/CT scanning in one PET/CT unit. Within this group, 526 patients had diffuse, focal, or multifocal FDG uptake. About 305 of 526 patients (57.9%) showed diffuse FDG uptake and 221 (42%) showed focal uptake on thyroid gland. RESULTS: The malignant group thyroid nodule sizes were between 8 and 39 mm (21.1 mm average, standard deviation [SD] ±7.3) on ultrasonography (USG) examination. These nodules have SUVmax values between 2.3 and 31.2 (average 8.8 SD ± 5.7). Benign group thyroid nodule sizes were between 5 and 46 mm (average 18.3 mm, SD ± 5.8) on USG examination. There were no significant correlations between SUVmax of the incidental focal thyroid lesions seen on FDG PET/CT and fine needle aspiration biopsy results. CONCLUSION: There is a relatively high possibility of a malignant lesion in thyroid incidentaloma. FDG uptake of these lesions is not a useful tool in absolute discrimination between malignancy and benign lesion. The presence of primary or secondary malign lesion is diagnosed in 34.1% of the patients who are found to have incidental focal FDG uptake within thyroid gland in PET/CT scans, but we suggest that the thyroid incidentalomas detected on FDG PET/CT should be further examined with USG and scintigraphy.

Compatibility of MRI and FDG-PET findings with histopathological results in patients with focal cortical dysplasia.

PURPOSE: The present study aimed to determine if the specific characteristics of fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) analyses of the FCD subgroups were compatible with the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and clinical findings of the patients in these subgroups. METHODS: This study included 71 patients who had a presurgical evaluation workup performed due to drug-resistant seizures, who underwent epilepsy surgery, and who were histopathologically diagnosed with FCD. Relationships involving MRI and FDG-PET findings and clinical data from pathological subgroups and patients were assessed. RESULTS: According to the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) classifications of FCD, 28 of the patients were type I and 43 were type II. FCD was visible on the MRI scans of 53 patients, and a majority of this group was classified as type II FCD (n=34). Of these 53 patients, FCD was located in the temporal area of 21 patients, the extratemporal area of 29 patients. Of the patients who exhibited FDG-PET hypometabolism (PET-positive), 23 were classified as temporal, 17 as frontal, 11 showed involvement of the posterior cortex. The age of seizure onset was younger in PET-positive patients (p=0.032), and histopathological analyses revealed that 23 patients had type I FCD and 30 patients had type II FCD. CONCLUSION: PET scans reveal a lesion by showing hypometabolism in patients who have refractory epilepsy and an early age of onset with FCD. The lesions of MRI-negative/PET-positive FCD patients tend to be localized in the temporal lobe and that FCD may be localized in the frontal lobe of MRI-negative/PET-negative patients. However, the histopathological examinations of MRI-positive/PET-positive, MRI-negative/PET-positive, and MRI-negative/PET-negative patients did not exhibit a particular histopathological subtype.

The role of 68Ga-DOTA-TATE PET/CT scanning in the evaluation of patients with multiple myeloma: preliminary results.

OBJECTIVE: In this observational pilot study, we aimed to evaluate the role of gallium-68-labelled DOTA-TATE (Ga-TATE) PET/computed tomography (CT) scanning in patients with multiple myeloma (MM), considering previous promising results obtained from conventional somatostatin receptor scintigraphy with In pentetreotide. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-one patients with a diagnosis of MM were prospectively included in this study: eight patients were referred for initial staging and 13 patients for restaging purpose. Both fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (F-FDG) and TATE PET/CT scanning were performed in all patients. RESULTS: All patients had one or more PET-positive lesion on either F-FDG or TATE scans. Six patients had an additional diffusely increased bone marrow activity on F-FDG scans, five of whom also had a concordant bone marrow appearance on TATE scans. Each PET set (either F-FDG or TATE) was positive in 19 patients. There was a discordant result in four (19%) patients between F-FDG and TATE scans. F-FDG scans showed 112 lesions (86 TATE-positive; 26 TATE-negative) in 19 patients, whereas TATE scans showed 108 lesions (86 F-FDG-positive; 22 F-FDG-negative) in 19 patients. No significant difference was found between the two modalities in terms of lesion numbers detected (P=0.67). However, the presence of diffuse bone marrow uptake of TATE seems to be a predicting factor for the overall survival (P=0.033, hazard ratio: 15.2 and 95% confidence interval: 1.2-185.5). CONCLUSION: TATE PET/CT seems to be an alternative imaging modality and may play a complementary role in MM management, at least by providing a different pathobiological insight into the disease.

Laryngeal squamous cell cancer with late presentation of isolated liver metastasis on fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography.

Laryngeal cancer is the second most common type of head and neck malignancy, representing approximately 45% of all head and neck cancers. Hematogenous spread to the liver rarely occurs without evidence of pulmonary and bone disease. We report a patient who had been treated 7 years earlier for laryngeal squamous cell cancer and who had isolated liver metastasis on fluorodeoxy D-glucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography.

The Combination of Preoperative Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography and Sentinel Lymph Node Mapping in the Surgical Management of Endometrioid Endometrial Cancer.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to evaluate the combination of sentinel lymph node (SLN) mapping and F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scan in detection of lymph node involvement in patients with endometrioid endometrial cancer (EEC). METHODS/MATERIALS: Ninety-five patients with EEC who had preoperative PET/CT imaging and underwent SLN mapping were retrospectively analyzed. Methylene blue dye was used and injected to the cervix at 3- and 9-o'clock positions (a total of 4 mL). Pelvic lymphadenectomy was performed on all of the patients after SLN mapping. If the SLN was negative in the initial hematoxylin and eosin staining, an ultrastaging study was performed for the SLNs. RESULTS: Sentinel lymph nodes were detected in 77 (81.1%) of 95 patients, with a mean of 2.95 SLNs. There was only 1 case (1.4%) with a positive SLN in the intraoperative frozen section examination in those patients with negative PET/CT findings and in whom SLNs were detected (n = 70). Among the remaining 69 patients with negative preoperative PET/CT findings and negative frozen section results for the SLNs, there were 2 patients with SLN involvement in the final ultrastaging pathology. In the patient-based analyses, the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of the PET/CT and SLN frozen section were 33%, 100%, 100%, and 97.1%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: As no metastases in the nonsentinel pelvic lymph nodes were found in patients with EEC who had both negative PET/CT findings and frozen section results of the SLNs in both hemipelvises, we suggest using both methods to reduce the incidence of unnecessary systematic lymphadenectomy.

The role of FDG PET/CT in detection of distant metastasis in theinitial staging of breast cancer.

BACKGROUND/AIM: We aimed to evaluate the role of FDG PET/CT in the detection of extraaxillary regional nodal/distant metastasis in breast cancer patients and to assess the value of FDG PET/CT for detecting distant metastases in patient subgroups. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 254 patients with breast cancer (248 female, 6 male) who underwent PET/CT for initial staging were enrolled. Patients were divided into four groups: Group 1 consisted of 154 patients diagnosed by tru-cut/core/FNAB, Group 2 comprised 32 patients diagnosed by excisional biopsy, Group 3 included 62 patients who had mastectomy-axillary lymph node dissection, and Group 4 consisted of 6 patients who had axillary lymph node metastasis diagnosed by excisional biopsy. RESULTS: PET/CT detected distant metastasis in 76 of the 254 patients. Of these patients, 21.7% had bone/bone marrow metastasis, 7.1% had lung metastasis, 13% had mediastinal lymph node metastasis, 4.8% had liver metastasis, 9.8% had other organ/system metastasis, and 6% had other lymphadenopathies. According to T staging, the percentages of distant metastasis were as follows: 13.6% of the 66 T1 stage patients, 35.7% of the 129 T2 stage patients, 40% of the 20 T3 stage patients, and 33.3% of the 39 T4 stage patients. CONCLUSION: FDG-PET/CT led to a change in the stage of disease and the treatment approach in newly diagnosed breast cancer patients due to its superiority in detecting extraaxillary regional lymph node metastases and distant metastases.

Do 18F-FDG PET/CT findings have a relationship with histopathological and immunohistochemical factors of breast cancer in men?

PURPOSE: We aimed to investigate the relationship between histopathological and immunohistochemical features of male breast cancer (MBC) and comprehensive fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (F-FDG) PET/computed tomography (CT) parameters. METHODS: Fifteen male patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer who underwent F-FDG PET/CT were included in the study. Maximum and average standardized uptake value (SUVmax and SUVavg), metabolic total volume, and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) were compared with the histopathological and immunohistochemical findings of patients. In addition, metabolic tumor-node-metastases (TNM) staging was performed following the determination of metastatic axillary lymph nodes and tumor size by F-FDG PET/CT and verified by histopathological evaluation. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between all groups classified on the basis of histopathological and immunohistochemical parameters for SUVmax, SUVavg, TLG, and metabolic total volume. The only difference was found in patients with distant metastases and stage IV. SUVmax, SUVavg, and TLG were higher in patients with distant metastases compared with patients without distant metastases (P: 0.005, 0.011, and 0.042, respectively). Strong correlations were found between metabolic TNM staging and histopathological TNM staging (for T stage; r: 0.590, P: 0.021, N stage; r: 0.694, P: 0.002, TNM stage; r: 0.835, P: 0.002). In addition, no differences were found with any metabolic F-FDG PET/CT parameters in survival. CONCLUSION: Although no correlation was found between metabolic parameters and groups categorized on the basis of histopathological or immunohistochemical features, F-FDG PET/CT is a reliable imaging modality to determine tumor size, axillary lymph node involvement, and metabolic TNM staging of MBC. In addition, none of those metabolic F-FDG PET/CT parameters predicted survival in MBC.

Depiction of ventriculoperitoneal shunt obstruction with single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography.

An 83-year-old male patient with ventriculoperitoneal shunt underwent radionuclide shunt study using single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) to evaluate the shunt patency. The planar images showed activity at the cranial region and spinal canal but no significant activity at the peritoneal cavity. However, SPECT/CT images clearly demonstrated accumulation of activity at the superior part of bifurcation level with no activity at the distal end of shunt as well as no spilling of radiotracer into the peritoneal cavity indicating shunt obstruction. SPECT/CT makes the interpretation of radionuclide shunt study more accurate and easier as compared with traditional planar images.

What is the role of florine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose/positron emission tomography/computed tomography imaging in well-differentiated thyroid cancers with negative iodine-131 scan high thyroglobulin and normal anti-thyroglobulin levels.

PURPOSE: This retrospective study aims to assess the cut-off value of thyroglobulin (Tg) levels in nux or metastatic well-differentiated thyroid cancers (DTCs) with normal anti-Tg levels using with fluorodeoxyglucose/positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG PET/CT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed FDG PET/CT images of 104 patients with well DTC (28 men, 76 women) whose: Iodine-131 (131 I) whole-body scanning was negative but had elevated Tg with normal anti-Tg levels. RESULTS: The overall sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy of florine-18-FDG PET/CT findings were found to be 95.92%, 87.27%, 87.04%, 96.00%, and 91.35%, respectively. The best Tg cut-off value was found to be 10.4 ng/ml. In the Tg level <10.4 ng/ml group, the sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy of FDG PET/CT were found to be 94.1%, 91.30%, 88.8%, 95.4%, and 92.5%, respectively. In the other group, which Tg level ≥10.4 ng/ml, sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy of FDG PET/CT exams were found to be 96.8%, 84.3%, 86.1%, 96.4%, and 90.6%, respectively. CONCLUSION: FDG PET/CT imaging is a valuable imaging method in the evaluation of patients with elevated serum Tg levels and normal anti-Tg levels. Furthermore, it has potential utility in the dedifferentiation of active foci that are present, and in assessing optimal decision making during follow-up.

Evaluation of radiation safety in (177)Lu-PSMA therapy and development of outpatient treatment protocol.

The aim of this study is to investigate the outpatient treatment protocol and radiation safety of a new-emerging lutetium-177 ((177)Lu) prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) therapy. This work analyzed the dose rate of 23 patients treated with 7400 MBq (177)Lu-PSMA at different distances (0, 0.25, 0.50, 1.0 and 2.0 m) and variable time marks (0, 1, 2, 4, 18, 24, 48 and 120 h) after the termination of infusion. Blood samples were withdrawn from 17 patients within the same group at 3, 10, 20, 40, 60 and 90 min and 2, 3, 24 h after termination of infusion. Seven different patients were asked to collect urine for 24 h and a gamma well counter was used for counting samples. Family members were invited to wear an optically stimulated luminescence dosimeter whenever they were in the proximity of the patients up to 4-5 d. The total dose of the medical team including the radiopharmacist, physicist, physician, nurse, and nuclear medicine technologist was estimated by an electronic personnel dosimeter. The finger dose was determined using a ring thermoluminescent dosimeter for the radiopharmacist and nurse. The mean dose rate at 1 m after 4 h and 6 h was 23 ± 6 µSv h(-1) and 15 ± 4 µSv h(-1) respectively. The mean total dose to 23 caregivers was 202.3 ± 42.7 µSv (range: 120-265 µSv). The radiation dose of the nurse and radiopharmacist was 6 and 4 µSv per patient, respectively, whereas the dose of the physicist and physician was 2 µSv. The effective half life of blood distribution and early elimination was 0.4 ± 0.1 h and 5 ± 1 h, respectively. Seven patients excreted a mean of 45% (range: 32%-65%) from the initial activity in 6 h. Our findings demonstrate that (177)Lu-PSMA is a safe treatment modality to be applied as an outpatient protocol, since the dose rate decreases below the determined threshold of <30 µSv h(-1) after approximately 5 h and degrades to 20 µSv h(-1) after 6 h.

Incidental Detection of Follicular Thyroid Carcinoma in 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT Imaging.

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a type II transmembrane protein. It has been shown to be expressed in various solid malignant neoplasms. We report a case of a prostate cancer patient who underwent (68)Ga-PSMA PET/CT imaging. There is a large thyroid nodule in the right thyroid gland, which had intense PSMA accumulation. Follicular thyroid lesions can be seen on (68)Ga-PSMA PET/CT imaging.

Assessment of yttrium-90 citrate radiosynovectomy treatment with bone scintigraphy in lipoma arborescens.

A 37-year-old male patient presented with right knee pain and swelling. The patient had a 6-year history of rheumatoid arthritis. Physical examination was notable for swelling and tenderness of the right knee. The diagnosis of lipoma arborescens (LA) was confirmed from the magnetic resonance imaging of the right knee. Herein, we report the use of bone scintigraphy in a case of LA treated with yttrium-90 radiosynovectomy.

Comparison of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT findings with vascular endothelial growth factors and receptors in colorectal cancer.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET/CT findings with the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family and its receptor (VEGFR) levels in metastatic and nonmetastatic colorectal cancer (CRC). Fluorine-18 FDG-PET/CT scans were performed for initial staging and restaging of patients with CRC. FDG-PET/CT findings of tumor (such as the presence of a primary tumor, the lymphatic or distance metastases, and the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of the primary tumor), serum VEGF A-C-D-E levels, and serum VEGF receptor 1-2-3 levels were analyzed. A total of 63 patients were included into the study (35 males, mean age 61.3 ± 11.9 years). Patients were divided into two groups, based on positive and negative PET/CT findings. Patients were also categorized according to the presence of metastasis. All evaluated parameters were significantly higher in the PET/CT-positive group than the PET/CT-negative group (p < 0.001). All those parameters were also positively correlated with each other. The highest correlation for SUVmax of primary tumor was found with VEGFR-3 (p < 0.001, r = 0.665). Patients with metastases had high levels of VEGF-D, VEGF-A, VEGF-C, VEGF-E, and VEGFR-3 than those without metastases. These parameters had better specificity and sensitivity values than the SUVmax of the primary tumor for detection of metastases. However, VEGF-D was the best indicator of metastasis in all of those parameters (VEGF-D vs SUVmax; sensitivity 100 vs 100 %; specificity 76 vs 76 %; AUC 0.903 vs 0.835; p < 0.001, respectively). Vascular endothelial growth factor family and its receptors were significantly higher in metastatic CRC patients. VEGF-D was the best indicator of metastasis than all VEGF family, VEGFR-3, and primary tumor SUVmax. VEGF family (A-C-D-E) and VEGFR-3 may help to determine the prognosis and management of CRC.

Bilateral breast uptake of radioiodine in a male patient with gynecomastia: A case report.

A 56-year-old male patient with papillary thyroid carcinoma was given radioiodine for the treatment of persistent disease. Post radioiodine whole body scan revealed uptake at the thyroidal region and bilateral uptake at the upper thoracic region. Single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) confirmed uptake at the left thyroid lobe, and additional symmetrical mammary gland uptake was observed at both breasts. The patient had obesity-related gynecomastia, but he did not have any history of breast cancer, mastitis, hyperprolactinemia, or galactorrhea. Although breast uptake of radioiodine is a common finding in postpartum or lactating women, it is uncommon in male patients. To our knowledge, this is the first case of a male patient with breast uptake of radioiodine documented with SPECT/CT. SPECT/CT is useful in male patients in the differentiation of benign breast uptake with lung metastases or axillary metastases of thyroid cancer.

FDG PET/CT Imaging of an Isolated Recurrence in the Eyelid of a Patient With Follicular Lymphoma.

An 80-year-old woman had a history of follicular lymphoma diagnosed by biopsy of the inguinal lymph node 4 years prior. After systemic chemotherapy, she achieved complete remission. She presented with painless swelling on the left side of the eyelid. She also had suspicious lymph node enlargement in the cervical and axillary regions. FDG PET/CT showed an isolated FDG-avid lesion on the eyelid that was confirmed by biopsy to be compatible with lymphoma recurrence.