Validation of a Multifocal Segmentation Method for Measuring Metabolic Tumor Volume in Hodgkin Lymphoma.

Quantification of metabolic tumor volume (MTV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) can be time-consuming. We evaluated the performance of an automatic multifocal segmentation (MFS) method of quantification in patients with different stages of Hodgkin lymphoma, using the multiple VOI (MV) method as reference. Methods: This prospective bicentric study included 50 patients with Hodgkin lymphoma who underwent staging 18F-FGD PET/CT. The examinations were centrally reviewed and processed with commercial MFS software to obtain MTV and TLG using 2 fixed relative thresholds (40% and 20% of SUVmax) for each lesion. All PET/CT scans were processed using the MV and MFS methods. Interclass correlation coefficients and Bland-Altman plots were used for statistical analysis. Repeated calculations of MTV and TLG values by 2 observers with different degrees of PET/CT imaging experience were used to ascertain interobserver agreement on the MFS method. Results: The means and SDs obtained for the MTV with MV and MFS were, respectively, 736 ± 856 mL and 660 ± 699 mL for the 20% threshold and 313 ± 359 mL and 372 ± 434 mL for the 40% threshold. The time spent calculating the MTV was much shorter with the MFS method than with the MV method (median time, 11.6 min [range, 1-30 min] and 64.4 min [range, 1-240 min], respectively), especially in patients with advanced disease. Time spent was similar in patients with localized disease. There were no statistical differences between the MFS values obtained by the 2 different observers. Conclusion: MTV and TLG calculations using MFS are reproducible, generate similar results to those obtained with MV, and are much less timing-consuming. Main differences between the 2 methods were related to difficulties in avoiding overlay of VOIs in the MV technique. MV and MFS perform equally well in patients with a small number of lesions.

Avaliação do perfil sócio-demográfico dos receptores de sangue do Hospital Oswaldo Cruz da Universidade de Pernambuco / Evaluation of the social demographic profile from the Hospital Universitário Oswaldo Cruz (HUOC) - Brazil

O objetivo do presente trabalho foi avaliar o perfil sócio-demográfico dos receptores de sangue (RS) internados no Hospital Universitário Oswaldo Cruz (HUOC) da Universidade de Pernambuco-UPE. O estudo foi realizado nos RS (n=172) no período de fevereiro a maio de 2003, quando os pacientes foram submetidos ao instrumento de coleta de dados. O trabalho foi aprovado pela comissão de Ética do Centro de Pesquisa Aggeu Magalhães-CpqAM. O perfil sócio-demográfico do RS mostrou que a idade média foi de 32,2 anos, 46,5por cento do sexo masculino e 53,5por cento do sexo feminino, 43,0por cento casados, 37,0por cento solteiros, 20,0 por cento outros. Quanto ao grau de escolaridade, 65,3por cento tinham ensino fundamental. Apenas 22,6por cento resideiam na cidade do Recife e 49,1 eram oriundos de outros municípios e estados do Brasil, e 57,2por cento não estam exercendo atividade trabalhista. A baixa escolaridade encontrada no RS (65,3por cento com apenas o primeiro grau) e a ausência de atividade laborativa (57,2por cento) pode dificultar o entendimento da necessidade de reposição de estoques de sngue. Os dados obtidos no presente trabalho poderão ser utilizados para auxiliar no planejamento estrategico na política de captação de doadores de sangue de reposição para o HUOC