Sonographically guided core biopsy of the salivary gland masses: safety and efficacy.

Over an 8-year period, we performed ultrasonography (US)-guided core biopsy of the salivary gland in 37 patients using an 1l-mm-throw 18-gauge automated biopsy system. The biopsy results were retrospectively compared with the findings of surgical pathology (n=18) or more than 6 months of clinical follow-up (n=19). The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of US-guided core biopsy for the diagnosis of malignancy were 75.0%, 96.6%, and 91.9%, respectively. No immediate or delayed complications occurred.

Thyroid calcifications: sonographic patterns and incidence of cancer.

We investigated the incidence of cancer in surgically resected 151 thyroid nodules in 101 patients according to their calcification patterns on preoperative ultrasonography (US). Calcification was detected in 57 (38%) nodules, 31 (54%) of which was histologically diagnosed as cancer. According to the calcification types, 9 of 11 nodules with microcalcifications, 15 of 29 nodules with intranodular coarse calcification, 6 of 14 nodules with peripheral calcification and 1 of 3 calcified spots without surrounding tumor were diagnosed as cancer.

In vitro proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic lactate and choline measurements, 18F-FDG uptake, and prognosis in patients with lung adenocarcinoma.

UNLABELLED: It has been reported that (18)F-FDG uptake, lactate concentration, and choline concentration are good indicators of malignant grade in several different kinds of tumors. In this study, we investigated the correlation between (18)F-FDG uptake in (18)F-FDG PET imaging, lactate concentration and choline concentration measured by in vitro (1)H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), and survival probabilities in human lung adenocarcinoma. METHODS: Nineteen patients with lung adenocarcinoma underwent (18)F-FDG PET before surgery. The (1)H MRS spectra were obtained in vitro from methanol-chloroform-water extracts of lung adenocarcinomas and normal lungs. The ratios of the lactate (R(lac)) or choline (R(cho)) concentration of lung adenocarcinoma to normal lung from the same patient were correlated with the mean standardized uptake value (SUV). The Kaplan-Meier life table method was used to analyze the relationship between (18)F-FDG uptake, R(lac), R(cho), and patient survival probabilities. RESULTS: There was no significant correlation between mean SUV and R(lac) or R(cho) in patients with lung adenocarcinoma. An SUV > 5 means poorer survival probabilities in patients with lung adenocarcinoma (P = 0.004). A higher R(lac) probably indicates a trend for patients with lung adenocarcinoma to have poorer survival probabilities; however, R(cho) is not an indicator of survival probability. (18)F-FDG uptake significantly correlated with cell differentiation (P = 0.007), whereas R(lac) and R(cho) had no correlation with it. CONCLUSION: No significant correlation was found between SUV and R(lac) or R(cho) in patients with lung adenocarcinoma. Compared with R(lac) and R(cho) measured by in vitro MRS, (18)F-FDG uptake is a better indicator of prognosis in patients with lung adenocarcinoma.

Cardiac 123I-MIBG scintigraphy can assess the disease severity and phenotype of PD.

OBJECTIVE: Cardiac (123)I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) scintigraphy studies of patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) found decreased uptake. Whether this decrease is associated with clinical severity as assessed by the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) and the phenotypes of PD has not been determined. METHODS: Cardiac MIBG scintigraphy was performed on 34 patients with PD, 7 with multiple system atrophy (MSA), 4 with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and 11 normal controls (NCs). Early and delayed MIBG heart/mediastinum (H/M) ratios were evaluated. PD severity was assessed by the Hoehn and Yahr (H-Y) stage and UPDRS. Patients were grouped in two phenotypes, tremor and postural instability gait difficulty (PIGD)-dominant groups based on UPDRS components. Associations between MIBG uptake and age at onset, UPDRS, and disease phenotype were analyzed in each group. RESULTS: The early H/M ratio was significantly lower in patients with PD (1.45+/-0.207) than in the NCs (2.08+/-0.231), and in those with MSA (1.99+/-0.284), but not in those with DLB (1.29+/-0.0435). The delayed H/M ratio for PD (1.33+/-0.276) also was significantly decreased as compared to the ratios for NCs (2.17+/-0.286) and MSA (2.16+/-0.414) but not DLB (1.16+/-0.0949). The early H/M ratio was significantly correlated with both UPDRS score and age at onset, whereas the delayed H/M ratio only was significantly correlated with age at onset. The PIGD-dominant group had significantly higher UPDRS scores and lower H/M ratios than the tremor-dominant group. CONCLUSION: Cardiac MIBG scintigraphy can be used to differentiate PD from MSA and NC, and to determine the disease severity and phenotypes of PD.

11C-acetate PET imaging of lung cancer: comparison with 18F-FDG PET and 99mTc-MIBI SPET.

Recently carbon-11 acetate (AC) positron emission tomography (PET) has been reported to be of clinical value for the diagnosis of cancer that is negative on fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucoce (FDG) PET. We investigated the uptake of AC in lung cancer to determine whether this tracer is of potential value for tumour detection and characterisation, and to compare AC PET imaging with FDG PET and technetium-99m sestamibi (MIBI) single-photon emission tomography (SPET). Twenty-three patients with 25 lung cancers underwent AC and FDG PET. Twenty of 23 patients were also investigated with MIBI SPET. Dynamic images were acquired for 26 min after the injection of 555 MBq of AC. Standardised uptake values (SUVs) and/or tumour to non-tumour activity ratios (T/N) for each tumour were investigated at 10-20 min after AC administration, 40-60 min after administration of 185 MBq FDG and 15-45 min after administration of 555 MBq MIBI. Twenty lung cancers were resected surgically, and the degree of tracer uptake in the primary lesion was correlated with histopathological features (cell dedifferentiation and aggressiveness) and prognosis. Rapid uptake of AC followed by extremely slow clearance was observed. For the purpose of tumour identification, AC PET was inferior to FDG PET in 8 of 25 (32%) lung cancers, and the T/N of AC was lower than that of FDG. However, AC PET was superior to FDG PET in the identification of a slow-growing tumour (bronchiolo-alveolar carcinoma). There was a positive correlation between AC uptake (T/N) and MIBI uptake (T/N) (r=0.799, P<0.0001). A positive correlation was not observed between either AC or MIBI uptake and the degree of cell dedifferentiation in lung adenocarcinomas, whereas FDG uptake did correlate with the degree of cell dedifferentiation. In lung adenocarcinoma, there was a weak correlation between aggressiveness and FDG uptake, but no correlation was evident for AC and MIBI. In addition, a positive correlation was not observed between AC or MIBI uptake and postoperative recurrence in lung adenocarcinoma, whereas FDG uptake did correlate with postoperative recurrence. Thus, the greater the FDG uptake, the higher the malignant grade. In conclusion, for the purpose of tumour identification, AC PET was inferior to FDG PET but superior to MIBI SPET. Neither AC nor MIBI uptake reflects the malignant grade in lung adenocarcinoma, whereas FDG uptake does. AC PET is less diagnostically informative than FDG PET in patients with lung cancer. However, AC PET may play a complementary role in the identification of low-grade malignancies that are not FDG avid.

Thallium-201 brain SPECT to diagnose aggressiveness of meningiomas.

This investigation was conducted to determine the ability of 201Tl brain SPECT with respect to preoperative prediction of lesional aggressiveness of meningioma. Fifty-nine lesions in 42 patients were examined. Early (15 min) and late (3 h) SPECT were obtained. Early uptake ratio (ER; lesion to normal brain average count ratio), late uptake ratio (LR) and the ratio of LR to ER (L/E ratio) were calculated. Twenty-three lesions exhibited malignant features based on histologic or clinical course such as recurrence or skull invasion. Both ER and LR of malignant meningiomas were significantly higher than those in thirty-six benign lesions. Benign lesions were classified into two groups for further analysis: meningotheliomatous type, which is the most common histology, and benign lesions other than the meningotheliomatous (other benign) type. ER in other benign type was lower than the meningotheliomatous and the malignant type. LR afforded differentiation of the malignant type from the two benign types. These two benign types could be distinguished on the basis of the L/E ratio. These results indicate that high pre-operative ER and LR values in patients with meningioma are indicators of the aggressiveness of lesions, i.e., malignant meningioma, recurrence or skull invasion.

Scintigraphic prediction of therapeutic outcomes of splenectomy in patients with thrombocytopenia.

UNLABELLED: In patients with thrombocytopenia, platelet scintigraphy has been used to locate the site of platelet sequestration and destruction and to determine whether splenectomy will be of benefit. However, its efficacy in predicting the outcome of splenectomy is controversial. We assessed the feasibility of platelet scintigraphy in this regard. METHODS: Platelet scintigraphy was performed in five patients (2 women, 3 men, mean age 48 years) before splenectomy. Four patients were diagnosed with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and one with hypersplenism due to portal hypertension caused by intrahepatic chemotherapy against metastatic liver tumors of rectal cancer. Platelets labeled with 37 MBq of In-111 oxine or 1110 MBq of Tc-99m HMPAO were intravenously injected. Anterior images were obtained with a gamma camera 3-5 and 23-29 hours post-injection in five patients. Additional images were obtained 48 hours post-injection in three patients. For the analysis, a spleen/liver ratio (S/L ratio) was calculated using mean counts in regions of interest defined on the spleen and the liver. Serum platelet counts were measured before and after the operation; in three patients, splenectomy effectively resolved the thrombocytopenia (Group A), while it was ineffective in two patients (Group B). RESULTS: The S/L ratios were apparently higher in Group A than in Group B; in Group A, the ratios were 6.05, 6.97 and 3.16 at 3-5 hours, 12.67, 7.48 and 3.46 at 23-29 hours and 17.66 and 8.12 at 48 hours, whereas, in Group B, they were 0.67 and 0.66 at 3-5 hours, 0.52 and 0.54 at 24 hours, and 0.42 at 48 hours. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that platelet scintigraphy is of value in predicting the therapeutic efficacy of splenectomy in patients with thrombocytopenia.

Differential diagnosis in patients with ring-like thallium-201 uptake in brain SPECT.

UNLABELLED: This study was performed to investigate lesions with ring-like thallium-201 (201Tl) uptake and to determine whether SPECT provides any information in differential diagnosis. METHODS: A total of 244 201Tl SPECT images were reviewed. In each study, early (15 min postinjection) and late (3 hr) brain SPECT images were obtained with 111 MBq of 201Tl. The early uptake ratio (ER; lesion to normal brain average count ratio) and the late uptake ratio (LR) and the L/E ratio (ratio of LR to ER) were calculated. RESULTS: Ring-like uptake was observed in pre-therapeutic 26 SPECT images, including ten glioblastoma multiformes (ER, 3.45 +/- 0.64; LR, 2.74 +/- 0.54; L/E ratio 0.80 +/- 0.13), five meningiomas (6.48 +/- 2.34; 4.41 +/- 1.41; 0.72 +/- 0.19), four metastatic lung cancers (3.47 +/- 1.23; 2.40 +/- 0.98; 0.70 +/- 0.14), four brain abscesses (2.48 +/- 1.06; 1.59 +/- 0.30; 0.78 +/- 0.15), one invasive lesion of squamous cell carcinoma from the ethmoid sinus (1.54; 1.52; 0.99), one medulloblastoma (3.53; 3.52; 1.00) and one hematoma (3.32; 2.36; 0.71). The ER of meningioma was significantly higher than those of glioblastoma multiforme (p < 0.0005), metastatic lung cancer (p < 0.005) and brain abscess (p < 0.0005). There were no significant differences among these three entities. The LR of meningioma was significantly higher than those of glioblastoma multiforme (p < 0.005), metastatic lung cancer (p < 0.005) and brain abscess (p < 0.0001). The LR of brain abscess was significantly lower than that of glioblastoma multiforme (p < 0.05). The L/E ratio could not differentiate these four entities. CONCLUSION: High ER and high LR in a lesion with ring-like uptake is likely an indicator of meningioma. The LR of brain abscess was significantly lower than that of glioblastoma multiforme, but 201T1 SPECT has still difficulty in differentiating abscess from brain tumor.

Changes in regional cerebral blood flow in irradiated regions and normal brain after stereotactic radiosurgery.

OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the radiation effect on the normal brain after stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), we evaluated the change in regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) in targeted and extra-targeted areas according to the radiation dose given. METHODS: Thirteen patients who underwent SRS for brain tumors or arteriovenous malformations were included in this study. Maximum radiation doses to the lesion ranged from 24 to 37 Gy. Mean and regional CBF were measured by 99mTc-HMPAO scintigraphy with graphic analysis, performed at before, 2 weeks and 3 months (5 patients) after SRS. Under the co-registration with the CT with superimposed isodose distribution, ROIs were set on target (37-20 Gy), peri-target (20-5 Gy) and out-of-field (5-2 Gy and less than 2 Gy) areas on the quantitative SPECT images. RESULTS: Significant reductions in mean CBF (by 7%) and regional CBF in the peri-target areas (by 5-7%) and out-of-field areas (by 6-22%) were recognized at 2 weeks and 3 months after SRS. Regional CBF in the target and peri-target areas did not significantly change, presumably because there was little or no normal tissue in these areas. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that subclinical regional CBF reduction occurs after SRS in the normal brain in out-of-field of radiation.

18F-FDG uptake as a biologic prognostic factor for recurrence in patients with surgically resected non-small cell lung cancer.

UNLABELLED: Among patients with resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), approximately 50% present with a recurrent tumor. The clinical or pathologic TNM staging does not always provide a satisfactory explanation for differences in relapse and survival. Thus, it is of major importance to be able to predict these relapses and to prevent them with an active chemotherapy or radiotherapy program (or both). 18F-FDG uptake on PET could be of prognostic significance in patients with resected NSCLC. The goal of this study was to determine whether the level of metabolic activity observed with 18F-FDG uptake correlates with the probability of postoperative recurrence in patients with NSCLC. METHODS: Fifty-seven patients with NSCLC were examined with 18F-FDG PET. For semiquantitative analysis, standardized uptake values (SUVs) were calculated. Patients were classified into high-SUV (> 5.0) and low-SUV (< or = 5.0) groups. All patients underwent thoracotomy within 4 wk after the 18F-FDG PET study. Tumor 18F-FDG uptake (SUV), pathologic stage, and lesion size were analyzed for their possible association with disease-free survival. RESULTS: Forty-six patients had pathologic stage I NSCLC and 11 had pathologic stage II or stage III NSCLC. In a univariate analysis, patients with an SUV of < or = 5 had a much better disease-free survival than did patients with an SUV of > 5 (P < 0.0001). In patients with pathologic stage I and stage IA NSCLC, the SUV was also correlated with disease-free survival (P < 0.0001 and P = 0.0012, respectively). Patients with pathologic stage I disease had an expected 5-y disease-free survival rate of 88% if the SUV was < or = 5 and a survival rate of < or = 17% if the SUV was > 5. A multivariate Cox analysis identified the SUV as the most significant independent factor for disease-free survival. CONCLUSION: We conclude that the 18F-FDG uptake in primary NSCLC determined by PET has a significant independent postoperative prognostic value for recurrence, especially in patients with pathologic stage I NSCLC. 18F-FDG uptake was superior to pathologic stage in predicting relapse of patients with NSCLC.