Annals of nuclear medicine
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Comparative Study Controlled Clinical Trial
Regional cerebral blood flow in Alzheimer's disease: comparison between short and long-term donepezil therapy.
Treatment with donepezil improves cognitive function of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) when compared to a placebo-controlled group. The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) of AD patients in short-term and long-term treatment with donepezil. ⋯ Relative rCBF significantly increased in the short-term donepezil therapy, while following the long-term therapy, rCBF decreased to the pre-treatment level.
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Comparative Study
Diagnostic accuracy of bone metastases detection in cancer patients: comparison between bone scintigraphy and whole-body FDG-PET.
18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) has become widely available and an important oncological technique. To evaluate the influence of PET on detection of bone metastasis, we compared the diagnostic accuracy of PET and conventional bone scintigraphy (BS) in a variety of cancer patients. ⋯ Diagnostic accuracy of bone metastasis was comparable in PET and BS in the present study. In a usual clinical condition, limited FOV (from face to upper thigh) of PET scan may not be a major drawback in the detection of bone metastases because of the relatively low risk of solitary bone metastasis in skull bone and lower limbs.
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The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential contribution of Tc-99m-MIBI scintigraphy to the follow-up of patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma, who had elevated Tg levels and negative I-131 whole-body scan results. ⋯ We concluded that Tc-99m-MIBI scan should be considered as a supplementary scintigraphic method for the follow-up of patients with high serum Tg levels and negative I-131 WBS results, and it can help clinicians in making the decision to treat these patients.
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We report a case of ganglioneuroma with abnormal 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake. A 26-year-old woman presented to the hospital with a slowly growing abdominal tumor without symptoms. She was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in childhood and treated by surgery and chemotherapy. ⋯ However, a second primary malignant tumor, such as malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor arising in ganglioneuroma, could not be ruled out. Then, an excisional biopsy was performed and the diagnosis of mature ganglioneuroma was made. Pathological investigation may be needed to differentiate ganglioneuroma from other malignant tumors and, therefore, FDG-PET/CT findings can be helpful for biopsy planning.
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Controlled Clinical Trial
Alteration of regional cerebral blood flow in patients with chronic pain--evaluation before and after epidural spinal cord stimulation.
Chronic pain is defined as intractable pain caused by abnormal pain transmission or impairment of the pain control system per se. Alteration of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) is known to occur under the presence of pain stimulation. Epidural spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is occasionally effective in relieving the symptom. ⋯ Chronic pain patients demonstrated abnormal rCBF distribution on both baseline and post SCS conditions. Increased rCBF of thalamus and precuneus under both conditions in the PR group and decreased rCBF of ACG under post SCS conditions in the GR group were characteristic patterns. Tc-99m-HMPAO SPECT with 3D-SSP and SEE analysis is likely objective and effective in monitoring and evaluating therapeutic outcome by SCS in chronic pain. In addition, it provides information that is useful in the selection of SCS candidates.