Nuclear medicine communications
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We hypothesize that the standardized uptake value (SUV) from PET/computed tomography (CT) can act as an adjunct to forced vital capacity (FVC) in evaluating disease status in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). ⋯ Pulmonary metabolism, rSUVmean, contributes to the functional status of IPF patients, and changes in rSUVmax may serve as an adjunct surrogate marker to FVC in evaluating the disease status in IPF patients.
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Characterization of intermediate-high risk adrenal incidentaloma (AI) is important because biopsy or surgery should be performed to confirm the malignancy. We investigated which parameters of F-fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) PET/computed tomography (CT) had an additive role in distinguishing malignancies in patients with incidental adrenal masses of intermediate-high risk. ⋯ We found that TLG showed the best result in distinguishing intermediate-high risk AI among PET/CT parameters. TLG can be a useful PET/CT parameter for differential diagnosis of AI.
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The objective of this study was to evaluate the contribution of amyloid imaging with (11)C-Pittsburgh compound B ((11)C-PIB) and of glucose metabolism on F-fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) PET/CT to the study of cognitive impairment in the clinical setting. ⋯ The combined use of (11)C-PIB and (18)F-FDG PET provides relevant information for the clinical management of cognitive impairment. The detection of positive (11)C-PIB cortical retention in patients may be an indicator of the need for further clinical assessment and monitoring.
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Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) is a rare but serious complication in transplant patients. Although fluorine-18 2-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose PET and computed tomography ((18)F-FDG PET/CT) has been used for the evaluation and management of patients with PTLD, its utility has yet to be documented. We were therefore prompted to review our experience with (18)F-FDG PET/CT in PTLD. ⋯ (18)F-FDG PET/CT is beneficial in the diagnostic evaluation of patients with PTLD. (18)F-FDG PET/CT has the ability to detect occult lesions not identified on other imaging modalities, particularly extranodal lesions. In addition, (18)F-FDG PET/CT may predict the PTLD subtype, as the lesions with higher pathologic grade presented with significantly higher SUVmax compared with the less aggressive forms.
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In patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC), metastases can either show iodine-131 (I) uptake on whole-body scintigraphy or F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (F-FDG) uptake on combined PET and X-ray computed tomography (PET/CT), or a mix of both. The present study investigates the relationship between uptake patterns and prognosis in DTC patients, using thyroglobulin doubling time (TgDT) as a surrogate marker of prognosis. ⋯ In this initial exploratory retrospective study there appears to be an association between a positive TgDT and F-FDG-positive, I-negative metastases, which should encourage further studies in order to establish whether F-FDG PET-CT is the preferred primary imaging modality in patients with a positive TgDT. Roughly two-thirds of patients with a negative TgDT will show at least some degree of I positivity, potentially enabling further I therapy.