Fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography for preoperative parathyroid imaging in primary hyperparathyroidism

Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) imaging was performed in seven consecutive patients with primary hyperparathyroidism to preoperatively locate parathyroid adenomas. Foci of FDG accumulation corresponding to abnormal parathyroid tissue were observed in two out of nine surgically excised parathyroid adenomas. It was concluded that FDG PET imaging demonstrated a too low sensitivity for systematic preoperative detection and localization of parathyroid glands causing primary hyperparathyroidism.     

Sustained improvement in myocardial perfusion four to six years after PTCA in patients with a satisfactory angiographic result, six months after the procedure

Of 46 consecutive patients who underwent percutaneous transluminalcoronary angioplasty (PTCA) from April 1980 to August 1982 andwho had a satisfactory angiographic result six months later,one died of cancer and 41 had a detailed evaluation with exercisesingle-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT, 40 patients)or repeat coronary angiography (one patient), 48–78 monthsafter the procedure. During follow-up, two patients had recurrentangina due to progression of coronary artery disease requiringa second PTCA procedure of another coronary artery; one of themlater had a limited myocardial infarction in an area suppliedby the vessel initially dilated. At follow-up, only one patienthad definite angina. All but one patient had a negative exercisetest. Myocardial perfusion during exercise in the PTCA-relatedarea, assessed by SPECT, was normal in 90% of the patients andshowed a limited defect due to reversible ischaemia in the remainingfour (10%). It is concluded that patients with a less than 50%stenosis six months after PTCA show sustained improvement intheir functional status and myocardial perfusion, four to sixyears after the procedure suggesting continued patency of thecoronary artery.     

PET-CT在恶性肿瘤诊断中的初步应用

目的探讨PET-CT一体机在恶性肿瘤中的应用价值.方法收集已经明确诊断的全身不同部位的恶性肿瘤病例62例,经PET-CT检查后进行回顾性分析,采用目测和半定量分析方法.结果62例肿瘤病人共检出142个病灶,PET图像阳性率93.55%(58/62);PET图像阴性率6.45%(4/62);PET发现病灶而CT未完全发现病灶率19.4%(12/62);CT发现而PET未见浓聚率6.45%(4/62);原发灶未能找到率1.61%(1/62).标准化摄取值(SUV)大于2.5占78.2%(111/142);SUV2.5～2.0占14.8%(21/142);SUV小于2.0占7%(10/142).结论PET-CT与单纯PET,CT比较具有明显的优势,可以精确定位、定性,但PET-CT也有一定的局限性.     

Impact of photon energy recovery on the assessment of left ventricular volume using myocardial perfusion SPECT

BACKGROUND: Photon energy recovery (PER) is a spectral deconvolution technique validated for scatter removal in patients and phantom studies. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of PER on left ventricular volume measurement based on myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). METHODS AND RESULTS: SPECT acquisitions were performed by use of a static cardiac phantom and in 25 patients after a rest injection of technetium 99m sestamibi by use of multiple energy windows (126-136, 137-144, and 145-154 keV). Data were successively reconstructed with and without PER, by use of iterative reconstruction and post-processing filtering (Butterworth filter; order, 5; cutoff, 0.30 cycles/pixel). Image contrast was evaluated in reconstructed data, and volumes were calculated by use of QGS. PER increased reconstructed image contrast from 62% +/- 2.7% to 84.3% +/- 5.7% in the phantom studies (P <.0001) and from 49% +/- 2% to 73% +/- 2% in patients (P <.0001). Although it remained underestimated (P <.0001), phantom volume was higher after PER correction compared with uncorrected data (50.9 +/- 0.8 mL vs 44.6 +/- 1 mL, P <.0001). The error in volume measurement was decreased by PER correction (16.6% +/- 1.3% vs 27% +/- 1.7% [uncorrected data], P <.0001). In patients, left ventricular volume increased from 83 +/- 10 mL to 91 +/- 10 mL (P <.0001), and the PER-induced volume increase was correlated with the image contrast increase (r = 0.61, P =.001). Finally, the percentage of volume increase was higher in patients with small left ventricular volumes. CONCLUSIONS: PER has a significant impact on image contrast and left ventricular volume measurement by use of perfusion SPECT. PER improves the accuracy of phantom volume assessment. In patients, volume increase is correlated to image contrast increase and is higher in those with small ventricles.     

PET examination of [11C]NNC 687 and [11C]NNC 756 as new radioligands for the D1-dopamine receptor

The benzazepines NNC 687 and NNC 756 have in animal studies been described as selective D₁-dopamine receptor antagonists. Both compounds have been labeled with¹¹C for examination by positron emission tomography (PET). In the present study central receptor binding was studied in monkeys and healthy men. After IV injection of both radioligands in Cynomolgus monkeys radioactivity accumulated markedly in the striatum, a region with a high density of D₁-dopamine receptors. This striatal uptake was displaced by high doses of the selective D₁-antagonist SCH 23390 (2 mg/kg) but not by the 5HT₂-antagonist ketanserin (1.5 mg/kg) or the selective D₂-antagonist raclopride (3 mg/kg). The cortical uptake after injection of [¹¹C]NNC 687 was not reduced in displacement experiments with ketanserin. The cortical uptake of [¹¹C]NNC 756 was reduced in displacement and protection experiments with ketanserin by 24–28% (1.5 mg/kg), whereas no reduction could be demonstrated on striatal uptake. In healthy males both compounds accumulated markedly in the striatum. For [¹¹C]NNC 687 the ratio of radioactivity in the putamen to cerebellum was about 1.5. For [¹¹C]NNC 756 the ratio was about 5. This ratio of 5 for [¹¹C]NNC 756 is the highest obtained so far for PET radioligands for the D₁-dopamine receptor.     

Whole-Body [18F]FDG PET in the Management of Metastatic Brain Tumours

Summary Background To determine its roles in the diagnosis and the systemic evaluation of metastatic brain tumours, whole-body positron emission tomography (PET) using [¹⁸F]FDG was performed in 20 consecutive patients. Methods  All patients were thought to be suffering or needing to be differentiated from metastatic brain tumours. Nine patients had multiple brain lesions; six were older and showed a rim-enhancing lesion with surrounding oedema; seven had homogeneously enhancing periventricular lesion(s) on computed tomography (CT) and/or magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, thought to be central nervous system lymphomas. Two patients had skull mass(es) and two patients had a solid mass suspected to be, respectively, a haemorrhagic metastasis and a metastatic malignant melanoma. All of them received whole-body [¹⁸F]FDG PET and conventional systemic work-up for metastasis in order to compare the results of the two methods. Results  Metastatic brain tumours were diagnosed on whole-body [¹⁸F]FDG PET in eleven patients who had extracranial and intracranial hypermetabolic lesions. In nine of these, a conventional work-up also detected primary lesions which on whole-body [¹⁸F]FDG PET were seen to be hypermetabolic foci. Systemic lymph node metastases were detected by whole-body [¹⁸F]FDG PET only in two patients and histological diagnosis was possible by biopsy of lymph nodes rather than of brain lesions. In the remaining nine patients who had only intracranial hypermetabolic foci, histological diagnosis was made by craniotomy or stereotactic biopsy. It was confirmed that seven of nine patients were suffering from a primary brain tumour and two from metastatic carcinoma. None of the nine showed evidence of systemic cancer on conventional work-up. Histological diagnoses of the primary brain tumours were four cases of primary central nervous system lymphoma and one each of multifocal glioblastoma, Ewing's sarcoma, and cavernous angioma.  Patients felt no discomfort during the whole-body [¹⁸F]FDG PET procedure and there were no complications. The false negative rate in [¹⁸F]FDG PET and in conventional work-up was 15.4% and 30.7% respectively. There were no false positives on either [¹⁸F]FDG PET or conventional work-up. Conclusion  It is suggested that whole-body [¹⁸F]FDG PET is a safe, reliable, and convenient method for the diagnosis and systemic evaluation of patients thought to be suffering or needing to be differentiated from a metastatic brain tumour.     

抑郁症的基础与认知激活脑SPECT显像

目的通过抑郁症患者基础和认知激活局部脑血流（ｒＣＢＦ）灌注显像的半定量分析，评估抑郁症患者的脑血流灌注异常。方法选择２７例未经抗抑郁治疗、ＩＣＤ１０分类为中度抑郁发作伴躯体症状的患者，１５例年龄匹配的健康人作正常对照。２７例患者中２１例、１５例健康人中１３例行双日法基础与认知激活脑ｒＣＢＦ显像；另６例患者及２例健康人仅行基础脑ＳＰＥＣＴ显像。认知激活采用Ｗｉｓｃｏｎｓｉｎ卡片分类试验。半定量分析在横断面图像７～１１帧上进行，将各ＲＯＩ的平均计数与同侧小脑的最高计数相除，得到各ＲＯＩ的ｒＣＢＦ比值。结果抑郁症左额叶和左颞叶的基础ｒＣＢＦ值均为０７２０，明显低于对照组（０７６４和０７５０，Ｐ＜００５）；左额、左颞、左顶叶的认知激活ｒＣＢＦ值分别为０７１９、０６９０及０７０１，明显低于对照组（０７８２、０７５２和０７６６，Ｐ＜００１和Ｐ＜００５）。结论①抑郁症患者存在左额叶、左颞叶的局部血流低灌注。②额叶、颞叶皮层低灌注可能是引起抑郁症认知障碍、心境低落的原因。③Ｗｉｓｃｏｎｓｉｎ卡片分类试验认知激活脑ＳＰＥＣＴ显像有助于提高抑郁症的诊断准确性     

Increased sensitivity through use of overlapping 180° orbits in clinical myocardial perfusion imaging

Clinical cardiac imaging is hindered by noise due to limited activity and imaging time. Use of 90° dual-detector systems with 90° gantry rotation may provide the best sensitivity/resolution for cardiac imaging, but this option is not readily available to those using a triple-detector system with detectors at 120° intervals. This study utilizes a cardiac/chest phantom to compare several triple-detector orbits, with assessment of sensitivity and resolution. A 180° rotation with reconstruction of two of the three heads was evaluated, resulting in overlapping 180° orbits; use of a starting angle of 165° for the first head placed the overlapping portion of the orbits over the LAO myocardial region, where camera-cardiac distance is most favorable. Use of this overlapping orbit yielded resolution equivalent to a conventional (single-head) 180° rotation. Sensitivity was 87%–90% of that of a 90° dual-detector system, and 16%–20% better than the common practice of using a 120° orbit with reconstruction of 1 /12 heads to achieve 180° of data. Use of 360° acquisition with reconstruction of all three heads provided the greatest sensitivity, though at the expense of some loss in image quality. Thus, for those centers performing cardiac imaging using a triple-detector system, use of overlapping 180° orbits is the preferred acquisition choice.     

Regional brain kinetics of 6-fluoro-(β-11C)-L-dopa and (β-11C)-L-dopa following COMT inhibition. A study in vivo using positron emission tomography

Summary The regional brain kinetics of (-11C)-L-dopa and 6-fluoro-(-11C)-L-dopa was measured in six Rhesus monkeys using positron emission tomography (PET). Radioactivity accumulated specifically in the striatal region and the increase in L-dopa-derived radioactivity utilization with time was calculated using surrounding brain as a reference area, this being devoid of dopaminergic activity. The rate constant for selective striatal utilization i.e. grossly decarboxylation was 0.0110 ± 0.0007 (S.D) and 0.0057 ± 0.0006 min1 for (-11C)-L-dopa and 6-fluoro-(-11C)-L-dopa, respectively. After pre-treatment of the monkeys with the peripherally and centrally active catecholamine-O-methyl transferase (COMT) inhibitor Ro 40-7592 10 mg/kg, the decarboxylation rate remained unchanged (0.0112 ± 0.0015 min-1) for (11C)-L-dopa, whereas an increase in rate was measured for 6-fluoro-(-11C)L-dopa (0.0092 ± 0.0015 min–1). Differences in the distribution of radiolabelled metabolites i.e. the corresponding O-methyl-L-dopa in the reference area is most probably the reason for the difference in calculated decarboxylation rate seen between the radiotracers. The higher decarboxylation rate measured for 6-fluoro-(-11C)-L-dopa after blockade of COMT shows that the radiolabelled metabolites i.e. 6-fluoro-O-methyl-(-11C)-L-dopa significantly contributes to background radioactivity.     

Brain kinetics of 11 C-labelled L-tryptophan and 5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan in the Rhesus monkey

Summary 5-Hydroxy-L-tryptophan labelled with 11 C is introduced as a tracer for the in vivo assessment of brain serotonin synthesis in the Rhesus monkey using positron emission tomography, PET. Increasing radioactivities were seen in the striatal area in contrast to that seen in other brain regions. Following 11 C-labelled L-tryptophan an even spread of brain radioactivity was seen. This selective increase most probably results from the decarboxylation of tracer and retention of formed products since no striatal increase of radioactivity was seen when 5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan labelled with 11 C in the carboxy-position was administered. Furthermore, pretreatment of the monkey with a centrally active decarboxylase inhibitor (NSD 1015,10 mg/kg) did not lead to increased striatal radioactivities after the administration of 5-hydroxy-(-11C)-L-tryptophan. The selective utilization of the radiotracer in the striatal area increased with a rate constant calculated to be 0.0055 ± 0.0015 min^–1 (n = 5) using the surrounding brain as reference area. A non-significant influence of radiolabelled metabolites to the rate constants measured was shown after pretreatment of the monkeys with selective and non-selective monoamine oxidase inhibitors, respectively. These results may give a basis for the use of the new tracer 5-hydroxy-(-11 C)-L-tryptophan in PET-studies of brain serotonin metabolism in health and disease.