Clinical nuclear medicine
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Bone SPECT imaging offers advantages over planar techniques based on improved contrast enhancement plus tomographic effect, with the latter allowing for precise anatomic localization of an abnormality. This is important when evaluating patients with back pain because placement of a lesion in the vertebral body, component of the vertebral arch, or disc space region significantly affects diagnostic possibilities and, in some circumstances, can effectively exclude malignancy in favor of benign disease. Such an approach to SPECT interpretation requires high-quality images capable of precise anatomic placement of a lesion and a systematic method of analysis based on recognition of normal anatomic relationships plus knowledge of the common presentations of bony abnormalities shown on SPECT scanning.
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Clinical nuclear medicine · Nov 1995
Localized manifestations of subacute thyroiditis presenting as solitary transient cold thyroid nodules. A report of 11 patients.
Eleven patients, each with a painful solitary cold nodule of the thyroid were evaluated. All patients had subacute thyroiditis associated with neck pain and tenderness. ⋯ Granulomatous subacute thyroiditis is characterized by decreased I-131 uptake accompanied by transient hyperthyroidism. The uncommon localized variant of this entity may present with a painful solitary nodule, normal or only moderately decreased I-131 uptake, and should be suspected even in euthyroid patients.
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Clinical nuclear medicine · Sep 1995
Comparative StudyPrediction of pulmonary function after resection of primary lung cancer. Utility of inhalation-perfusion SPECT imaging.
To help determine whether preoperative perfusion and inhalation SPECT imagings are useful in predicting postoperative lung function, Tc-99m MAA perfusion SPECT imaging, CT scans, and pulmonary function tests were prospectively performed in 33 patients with primary lung cancer before and after lobectomy or pneumonectomy. Tc-99m Technegas inhalation SPECT imaging was performed in 6 of 33 patients as well. The authors also studied changes in radioactivity on the operated and nonoperated sides before and after surgery, examined the lowest limit value for adaptability to the operation, and made a comparison of both perfusion and inhalation SPECT imaging. ⋯ This appears to indicate that pulmonary blood flow on the operated side has completely recovered by 3 months after surgery. However, radioactivity in both the upper and lower lobes of the nonoperated side increased soon after surgery compared with that before the operation, and had not returned to preoperative levels 6 months after surgery. The radioactivity in the right middle lobe did not change before and after surgery.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Clinical nuclear medicine · Sep 1995
Comparative StudyDiminished Tc-99m HMPAO pulmonary uptake in ex-smokers.
Normally, there is no localization of Tc-99m HMPAO in the lungs. Tc-99m uptake in smokers' lungs has been reportedly higher than in nonsmokers. Thus, the lung uptake may be used as a barometer of cigarette smoking. ⋯ The authors conclude that pulmonary Tc-99m HMPAO uptake of smokers is significantly diminished after quitting smoking. However, the lung uptake of ex-smokers is higher than that of non-smokers. The uptake in the lung induced by smoking appears to be partially reversible after the cessation of smoking.
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Clinical nuclear medicine · Dec 1994
Prediction of probability of pneumonectomy for lung cancer using Tc-99m MAA perfusion lung imaging.
Pulmonary perfusion scintigraphy with Tc-99m MAA was performed on 182 patients, on whom either pneumonectomy or lobectomy was performed, because of primary nonsmall-cell lung carcinoma. Among them, 76 underwent pneumonectomy, and 106 underwent lobectomy. The mean value of the perfusion fraction (PF) of the affected lung of the patients undergoing pneumonectomy was 32.3 +/- 13.6% (range, 4%-50%) and was less than that of the patients undergoing lobectomy, 43.5 +/- 4.5% (range, 27%-50%). ⋯ Among the 28 patients whose PF of the affected lung was equal to or less than 30%, 26 underwent pneumonectomy and only 2 had a lobectomy. Among the 154 patients whose PF of the affected lung was more than 30%, 50 underwent pneumonectomy and 104 had a lobectomy. These result suggest that "30%" can be a cutoff value (Yates correction X(2) test, X2 = 33.09; P < 0.001).