Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Tomographic imaging in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism: a comparison between V/Q lung scintigraphy in SPECT technique and multislice spiral CT.
Although ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) lung scintigraphy is a well-accepted and frequently performed procedure in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism, there is growing controversy about its relevance, particularly due to the increasing competition between scintigraphy and CT. Even though comparative studies between both modalities have already been performed, their results were highly inconsistent. Remarkably, in most of those studies, conventional planar perfusion scans were compared with tomographic images acquired using state-of-the-art CT scanners-a study design that cannot give impartial results. Hence, the aim of our study was a balanced comparison between V/Q lung scintigraphy and CT angiography using advanced imaging techniques for both modalities. ⋯ SPECT and ultrafine aerosols are technical advancements that can substantially improve lung scintigraphy. Using advanced imaging techniques, V/Q scintigraphy and multislice spiral CT both yield an excellent and, in all aspects, comparable diagnostic accuracy, with CT leading in specificity while SPECT shows a superior sensitivity. Even though planar lung scintigraphy yields satisfactory results for a nontomographic modality, it does not compare with tomographic imaging.
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Ursodeoxycholic acid-augmented hepatobiliary scintigraphy in the evaluation of neonatal jaundice.
Early differentiation of extrahepatic biliary atresia from intrahepatic cholestasis is important. Hepatobiliary scintigraphy is an excellent noninvasive investigation for ruling out extrahepatic biliary atresia. This study aimed at identifying the role of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), a choleretic agent, in conjunction with hepatobiliary scintigraphy in differentiating extrahepatic biliary atresia from neonatal hepatitis. ⋯ Pretreatment with UDCA significantly improves the specificity of hepatobiliary scintigraphy in ruling out extrahepatic biliary atresia as a cause of prolonged neonatal jaundice.
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Comparison of 18F-FDG and 11C-methionine for PET-guided stereotactic brain biopsy of gliomas.
We compared the contributions of the labeled tracers (11)C-methionine (Met) and (18)F-FDG for PET-guided stereotactic biopsy of brain gliomas. ⋯ Distributions of highest Met and (18)F-FDG uptake are similar in brain gliomas. Because Met provides a more sensitive signal, it is the molecule of choice for single-tracer PET-guided neurosurgical procedures in gliomas.