The quarterly journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging : official publication of the Italian Association of Nuclear Medicine (AIMN) [and] the International Association of Radiopharmacology (IAR), [and] Section of the Society of Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry and Biology
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Q J Nucl Med Mol Imaging · Jun 2011
ReviewFDG- and amyloid-PET in Alzheimer's disease: is the whole greater than the sum of the parts?
The development of prevention therapies for Alzheimer's disease (AD) would greatly benefit from biomarkers that are sensitive to subtle brain changes occurring prior to the onset of clinical symptoms, when the potential for preservation of function is at the greatest. In vivo brain imaging is a promising tool for the early detection of AD through visualization of abnormalities in brain structure, function and histopathology. ⋯ This paper reviews brain Aβ- and FDG-PET studies in AD patients as well as in non-demented individuals at risk for AD. We then discuss the potential of combining symptoms-sensitive FDG-PET measures with pathology-specific Aβ-PET to improve the early detection of AD.
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Q J Nucl Med Mol Imaging · Feb 2011
Could [18]F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT change the therapeutic management of stage IV thyroid cancer with positive (131)I whole body scan?
Stage-IV differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) patients may present elevated serum thyroglobulin (Tg) levels associated with positive [(131)I] whole-body-scan (WBS). Nevertheless some patients in whom WBS does not reveal new sites of disease show increased Tg levels. This finding prompts thorough restaging in order to exclude the presence of metastases unable to concentrate iodine. The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of [(18)F]FDG-PET/CT in both the assessment of overall extent of the disease and the therapeutic management in a group of stage-IV DTC patients. ⋯ Our results showed that [18F]FDG-PET/CT can detect new radioiodine-negative metastases in advanced DTC patients with unchanged positive WBS and increasing Tg levels. [(18)F]FDG-PET/CT may constitute a useful tool in the choice of the best therapeutic strategy in such difficult cases.
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Radiotherapy is one of the corner stone treatments for patients with prostate cancer. Especially for locally advanced tumors radiotherapy +/- adjuvant androgen deprivation treatment is standard of care. This brings up the need for accurate assessment of extra prostatic tumor growth and/or the presence of nodal metastases for selection of the optimal radiation dose and treatment volume. ⋯ Choline PET based tumor delineation is not yet standardized and different segmentation-algorithms are under study. However, dose escalation using dose-painting is feasible with only limited increases of the doses to the bladder and rectum wall. PET/CT using either acetate or choline is able to detect recurrent prostate cancer after radiotherapy but stratification of patients for any local salvage treatment has not been addressed in the current literature.
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Q J Nucl Med Mol Imaging · Aug 2010
Potential clinical role of 18F FDG-PET/CT in detecting hip prosthesis infection: a study in patients undergoing two-stage revision arthroplasty with an interim spacer.
We evaluated the potential role of [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography ([18F]FDG-PET/CT) to identify latent infections at the site of an interim hip spacer after resection arthroplasty for hip prosthesis infection. ⋯ FDG-PET/CT is highly sensitive to detect latent infections in prosthetic hips and in interim hip spacers. The high negative predictive value of PET/CT scans is useful to rule out infections in patients with persistently elevated CRP levels. PET/CT might serve as an auxiliary tool to exclude latent infections in patients posing a clinical diagnostic dilemma.
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Q J Nucl Med Mol Imaging · Feb 2010
Comparative StudyComparison of (68)Ga-DOTA-Tyr(3)-octreotide and (18)F-fluoro-L-dihydroxyphenylalanine positron emission tomography in neuroendocrine tumor patients.
(68)Ga-DOTA-Tyr3-octreotide positron emission tomography ((68)Ga-DOTA-TOC PET) and (18)F-fluoro-L-dihydroxyphenylalanine PET ((18)F-DOPA PET) are emerging modalities for imaging of neuroendocrine tumors. This study reports our initial experiences with these two PET modalities on initial diagnosis, staging and restaging in NET patients. ⋯ (68)Ga-DOTA-TOC and (18)F-DOPA PET are useful tools in the detection and staging of NET lesions. Our initial results allow the conclusion that (68)Ga-DOTA-TOC PET may have a stronger clinical impact in NET patients, as it does not only offer diagnostic information, but is decisive for the further treatment management, i. e. PRRT, as well.