Annals of nuclear medicine
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The severity of chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) is defined by the degree of flow limitation measured as forced expiratory volume in 1 s, which mainly reflects impairment of large and intermediate airways. However, COPD is primarily a small airways disease. Therefore, better diagnostic tools are needed. Ventilation-Perfusion (V/P) SPECT is a sensitive method to detect obstructive lung changes but criteria for staging airway obstruction are missing. ⋯ Functional imaging with V/P SPECT enables standardized grading of airway obstruction as well as reduced lung function, both of which correlate with GOLD stage. V/P SPECT shows that long-term smokers in most cases have signs of ventilatory impairment and airway obstruction not shown by spirometry.
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The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the point spread function (PSF) and time of flight (TOF) on PET/CT images of overweight patients in relation to the iteration number and the acquisition time. ⋯ The combination of the PSF and TOF correction improved the image quality of the LG phantom and overweight patients.
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In the follow-up of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) after a successful total-near total thyroidectomy and I-131 ablation therapy, anti-thyroglobulin antibodies (anti-Tg) may be persistently or progressively increased in the patients with an undetectable serum thyroglobulin (Tg) level. In these cases, further investigation was performed to search for recurrence/metastases. The aim of our study was clarifying the role of FDG-PET/CT in detecting recurrence/metastasis in patients with DTC with negative serum Tg and elevated anti-Tg level. ⋯ The value of a persistently or progressively increased serum anti-Tg level in the follow-up of DTC in the prediction of recurrence/metastasis is controversial. However, it is reported that FDG-PET can be useful in the detection of recurrence/metastasis. We conclude from the available data that PET/CT can be effectively used in the detection of recurrence/metastasis in the follow-up of patients with DTC and negative serum Tg and a persistently/progressively increased anti-Tg level. Besides, one half of the patients were FDG negative, meaning that further studies are needed to assess the prognostic-clinical value of PET negativity.
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The purpose is to develop and evaluate the ability of the computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) methods that apply texture analysis and pattern classification to differentiate malignant and benign bone and soft-tissue lesions on 18F-fluorodeoxy-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography ((18)F-FDG PET/CT) images. ⋯ The present CAD method using texture analysis to analyze the distribution/heterogeneity of SUV and CT values for malignant and benign bone and soft-tissue lesions improved the differential diagnosis on (18)F-FDG PET/CT images.
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This study aimed to compare the diagnostic value of (123)I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) myocardial scintigraphy, N-isopropyl-p[(123)I]iodoamphetamine (IMP) brain perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) voxel-based morphometry (VBM) for the differentiation of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). ⋯ (123)I-MIBG myocardial scintigraphy was superior to brain perfusion SPECT and brain MRI using an advanced statistical technique to differentiate DLB and AD.