Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: scintigraphy in the diagnosis of steatohepatitis.

OBJECTIVE: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is the most prevalent cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis is associated with increased mortality rates due to the liver and cardiovascular diseases. The gold standard for discriminating nonalcoholic fatty liver disease activity and staging is the anatomopathological examination, which is an invasive method. In this regard, noninvasive methods, such as scintigraphy, have been under investigation. This study investigated the role of scintigraphy in the diagnosis of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in obese patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease undergoing bariatric surgery. METHODS: Patients undergoing bariatric surgery and liver biopsy were prospectively included. 99mTc-phytate scintigraphy was performed to assess liver/spleen, spleen/heart, and liver/heart uptake ratios, while 99mTc-isonitrile scintigraphy assessed liver/heart ratio. To evaluate the presence of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, the results of 99mTc-phytate scintigraphy and 99mTc-isonitrile scintigraphy were compared with the anatomopathological examination. RESULTS: Sixty-one patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease were allocated into two groups, namely, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (n=49) and non-nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (n=12). The results of scintigraphic images obtained after the infusion of radiopharmaceutical 99mTc-phytate in liver/spleen, spleen/heart, liver/heart ratios and 99mTc-isonitrile liver/heart ratio presented no difference between groups with and without nonalcoholic steatohepatitis with an accuracy of 47.5, 37.7, 50.8, and 52.5%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Scintigraphy was not proven to be a useful method to differentiate patients with and without nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.

The surgical management of the sentinel lymph node in cutaneous melanoma might be different when the primary lesion was previously resected with 1 cm margin.

AIM: To simulate the effects of previous wide cutaneous melanoma excision in sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy feasibility through a change in the radiotracer injection site. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-three patients with cutaneous melanoma underwent two preoperatory lymphoscintigraphic studies. In the first, the radiopharmaceutical was injected intradermally 0.3 cm away from the lesion/scar. Dynamic images were acquired to find the SLN. On the following day, the procedure was repeated with the radiopharmaceutical injected 1 cm farther from the previous injection sites. The number of lymph nodes and sites of drainage were compared with the findings of the first study. All the patients underwent SLN biopsy using a gamma probe and patent blue. RESULTS: Seventy-five SLNs were identified with radiopharmaceutical injected at 0.3 cm from the lesion versus 82 SLNs when injected at 1.3 cm. All lymph nodes visualized with close injection were identified with the farther injection. Twenty-seven (81%) patients presented the same number and location of SLNs. Six (19%) patients presented more SLNs with the expanded technique, three patients in the same basin and three in a new lymph node station. All metastatic SLNs were harvested by the two injection techniques. CONCLUSION: The value of the SLN biopsy in patients with cutaneous melanoma is maintained even after the primary lesion has been removed with a margin of up to 1 cm. Some patients might show an increased number of SLNs and some might show drainage to additional lymph node stations.

Tumor-induced osteomalacia: the importance of early diagnosis / Osteomalácia induzida por tumor: a importância do diagnóstico precoce

Tumor-induced osteomalacia is a rare paraneoplasic syndromethat can be completely cured with the removal of the culprittumor. This study described the clinical history of a patientaffected by tumor-induced osteomalacia. The patient was a57-year-old female who sought hospital due to intense andprogressive pain in the lower limbs and muscle weakness, aswell diffuse osteoporosis and a variety of pathologic fracturesat radiographs. Laboratory tests revealed hypophosphatemiawith hyperphosphaturia and raised the hypothesis of tumorinducedosteomalacia. Whole-body technetium-99m octreotidescintigraphy revealed the presence of a focal area of radiotraceruptake in the medial region of the left tarsus. After tumorexcision, there was a rapid correction of serum phosphorus,reduction of musculoskeletal complaints and evidence of bonehealing. Despite the diagnosis and treatment, the patient hadan unfavorable clinical outcome; she developed sepsis frompulmonary focus, evolving into refractory septic shock anddeath. We stress the need for greater recognition of tumorinducedosteomalacia as a cause of clinical bone pain, fractures,osteopenia and muscle weakness, superimposed on thecharacteristic biochemical profile with hypophosphatemia andrelative hyperphosphaturia. Greater awareness of the disease willallow earlier diagnosis and ultimately a greater curative potentialfor patients afflicted with this syndrome.(AU)

Osteomalácia induzida por tumor é uma síndrome paraneoplásicarara que pode ser curada completamente com a ressecção dotumor causador. Este estudo descreveu a história clínica de umapaciente afetada pela osteomalácia induzida por tumor. Paciente,de 57 anos, deu entrada no hospital por dor em membros inferiores,e fraqueza muscular intensa e progressiva, assim comoosteoporose difusa e fraturas patológicas. Exames laboratoriaisevidenciaram hipofosfatemia com hiperfosfatúria e levantarama hipótese de osteomalácia induzida por tumor. Cintilografia detodo corpo com tecnécio-99m revelou a presença de área focalde captação do radiofármaco na região medial do tardo esquerdo.Após a ressecção do tumor, houve rápida correção do fósforosérico, redução das queixas musculoesqueléticas e evidência decalo ósseo. Apesar de diagnóstico e tratamento, a paciente apresentouum desfecho clínico desfavorável, desenvolvendo sepsede foco pulmonar, choque séptico e evoluindo a óbito. Nós enfatizamosa necessidade de maior reconhecimento da osteomaláciainduzida por tumor como causa de dor óssea, fraturas patológicas,osteopenia e fraqueza muscular, superpostos a um perfilbioquímico característico, com hipofosfatemia e hiperfosfatúriarelativa. Maior alerta sobre a doença permitirá um diagnósticomais precoce e maior potencial curativo aos pacientes afetadospor essa síndrome.(AU)

Determinacao do volume de ascite e medida da tensao abdominal em pacientes cirroticos / Ascitic volume determination and abdominal tension measurement in cirrhotic patients

Tendo em vista o tratamento da ascite atraves da paracentese total, procurou-se estabelecer uma eventual correlacao entre tensao abdominal e volume de ascite. Para tal, 11 pacientes com cirrose e ascite refrataria ou recidivante foram prospectivamente estudados. O volume de ascite foi determinado atraves da tecnica que utiliza como marcador o tecnecio fitato. Para controle da eficacia do metodo, utilizamos a paracentese total com reposicao de albumina. A medida da tensao abdominal foi realizada atraves de um raquimanometro, que era conectado a agulha de puncao abdominal. O volume medio obtido pela tecnica proposta foi de 8.845 + - 5.478 ml, e atraves da paracentese de 8.268 + - 5.478 ml, observando-se que a tecnica que utiliza o tecnecio-fitato para a medida do volume de ascite e acurada. Quando analisamos a tensao abdominal, a mesma variou de 0 a 15 cm H2O (x=4,73 + - 4,40 cm H2O). Apos utilizarmos o teste de correlacao de Pearson observamos nao haver correlacao entre o volume de ascite e tensao abdominal. Conclui-se que a parecentese terapeutica, quando indicada, deve ser utilizada em pacientes com ascite refrataria ou tensa, e nao naqueles com ascite volumosa

Diagnóstico de doença tromboembólica pulmonar / Diagnoses of thromboembolic diseases of the lung

Os autores revisam a conceituaçäo, fisiopatologia e os métodos diagnósticos da doença tromboembólica pulmonar e discutem seu valor relativo na elaboraçäo do raciocínio diagnóstico. Sugerem rotinas a serem cumpridas no Hospital Universitário da PUC. Visando maior acuidade diagnóstica elaboraram um diagrama