Comparison of whole-body MRI with automatic moving table technique and bone scintigraphy for screening for bone metastases in patients with breast cancer.

The aim of this study was presentation of a whole-body MRI technique with a moving table as a screening tool for bone metastases in patients with breast cancer. Twenty-two patients with breast carcinoma underwent both a planar whole-body bone scintigraphy and whole-body MRI at 1.5 T. The MRI images were acquired with a moving table at six different anatomical positions within a measurement time of 20 min. Coronal images were acquired using a short-tau inversion recovery sequence, accomplished by an axial T2-weighted turbo-spin-echo sequence through the head, and a T1-weighted opposed-phase sagittal 2D fast low-angle shot sequence covering the whole spine. The MRI findings indicating bone metastases were compared with findings from bone scintigraphy. Metastatic lesions were confirmed by follow-up examinations over 1 year. Twelve patients showed bone metastases. Whole-body MRI was superior to bone scintigraphy in predicting lesion origin with a sensitivity of 92% (bone scintigraphy 83%), a specificity of 90% (scintigraphy 80%) and an accuracy of 91% (scintigraphy 82%). The MRI showed additional findings such as metastases of the lung and liver. Whole-body MRI with moving table technique may be an effective method of total body screening for bone in selected patients with breast carcinoma and a high risk of distant metastases, although with the higher costs of MRI bone scintigraphy must still be considered as the first method for screening patients with breast cancer.

Biochemical markers of bone turnover, intact serum parathyroid horn and renal calcium excretion in patients with pseudohypoparathyroidism and hypoparathyroidism before and during vitamin D treatment.

In addition to the well-documented hyporesponsiveness of the kidney, resistance to parathyroid hormone (PTH) has been postulated for bone in pseudohypoparathyroidism type I (PHP). In some of these patients reduced bone density and even frank osteitis fibrosa suggest osteoclastic overactivity. To address the possibility that the skeletal system of patients with PHP may be affected by their increased PTH secretion we measured intact serum PTH and three biochemical markers of bone turnover in a large number of patients with PHP (n = 20). The results were compared with subjects with low (hypoparathyroidism, HP n = 29), normal (controls, n = 31) and high (primary hyperparathyroidism, 1 degree HPT, n = 13) PTH secretion. Both markers of osteoblastic bone formation, alkaline phosphatase activity and osteocalcin concentration in serum, and one index of osteoclastic bone degradation, the urinary hydroxyproline/creatinine ratio (OH-P/Cr), were decreased in HP and increased in 1 degree HPT, whereas only OH-P/Cr was elevated in patients with PHP. Although intact serum PTH was significantly more increased in PHP than in 1 degree HPT, the markers of bone turnover were not significantly different in these two groups, suggesting some bone resistance in the patients with PHP. In these subjects intact serum PTH was elevated even at normocalcaemia during vitamin D treatment with a negative correlation with the respective serum calcium concentration (r = -0.69, P less than 0.001), indicating an elevated set-point for the suppression of their parathyroid glands. OH-P/Cr was negatively related to serum calcium in PHP, it normalized in most patients during normocalcaemia induced by vitamin D treatment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Disorders of calcium and bone metabolism in glucocorticoid treatment]. / Kalzium- und Knochenstoffwechselstörungen unter Glukokortikoid-Behandlung.

The effects of glucocorticoids on calcium and bone metabolism were investigated in 11 children (aged 6 months to 13 years) who were treated with dexamethasone, prednisolone and depot-ACTH because of different disorders. Alkaline phosphatase activity and osteocalcin in serum, representing indices of osteoblastic bone synthesis, and urinary hydroxyproline in relation to creatinine in morning fasting urine specimens, an index of osteoclastic bone degradation, decreased by 53-61% from baseline (P less than 0.01), with a highly significant relationship of all 3 indices to each other. Additional influences of glucocorticoids were hyperphosphaturia due to decreased renal phosphate reabsorption not mediated by secondary hyperparathyroidism, as well as marked hypercalciuria. As the consequence of the present study the following prophylactic or therapeutic recommendations are given during steroid-treatment: 1. Approvement of the negative balance of calcium and phosphate by correcting the hypercalciuria with hydrochlorothiazide, and the hypophosphatemia with oral phosphate and 2. in elder children with osteoporosis, stimulation of the decreased osteoblastic bone formation by sodium fluoride.

[Intact serum parathormone (PTH 1-84). A suitable parameter for the diagnosis of calcium metabolism disorders]. / Intaktes Serum-Parathormon (PTH 1-84). Ein geeigneter Parameter für die Diagnostik von Calciumstoffwechselstörungen.

Intact parathormone (PTH 1-84) was measured with a new immunoradiometric method in serum from 83 children and adults with various abnormalities of calcium metabolism. The results were compared with those of an assay of midregional PTH fraction (44-68). Both measurements discriminated well between normal controls and patients with primary or secondary hyperparathyroidism. In patients in chronic renal failure intact PTH measurement was best for demonstrating parathyroid secretion. An important advantage of the new method is in the diagnosis of PTH hyposecretion in hypoparathyroidism and of tumour hypercalcaemia, which is not possible by mid-regional PTH determination. Intravenous injection of calcium (2 mg/kg over 5 min) and of synthetic PTH fragment (6 U/kg 1-38 hPTH over 2 min) caused a reduction in intact serum-PTH to about half the initial value after five minutes. Measuring intact PTH is thus a suitable method for determining both raised and decreased parathyroid secretion in disease and in the course of function tests. It is simple to perform, subject to only minor interference, and thus suitable also as a routine laboratory test.