Radionuclide ejection fractions in the evaluation of patients being considered for bone marrow transplantation: risk for cardiac toxicity.

One hundred thirty-six patients underwent radionuclide ventriculography as part of an evaluation prior to bone marrow transplantation. One hundred twenty-six who were considered suitable transplant candidates began conditioning chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy and were retrospectively evaluated for development of cardiac toxicity. The cumulative pretransplant anthracycline dose in patients who began the conditioning regimen was not a significant predictor for decreased pretransplant ejection fraction (EF) or severe cardiac toxicity following transplantation. Fourteen patients (10%) had EFs less than 50%. Of these, 10 began the preparative regimen and two (20%) experienced grade III or IV cardiac toxicity (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.5-56%) versus five of 116 patients (4%; CI 1.4-9.8%) with EFs greater than or equal to 50% (p = 0.096). The incidence of grade III or IV cardiac toxicity among patients with any history of cardiac dysfunction or with an abnormal physical examination prior to transplant was 9% (two of 22) versus 5% among the remaining patients (five of 104) (p = 0.605). Though transplant-related cardiac toxicity may be more common in patients with mildly reduced EFs, the small number of patients with reduced EFs referred for transplant does not warrant the routine pretransplant screening of all patients with radionuclide ventriculography.

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease: early diagnosis and data for genetic counselling.

Because of the onset of symptoms in patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease is generally delayed until adulthood, genetic counseling is imprecise. In an attempt to identify patients early, 261 offspring of subjects with the gene for polycystic disease were tested. Agreement between the results of excretory urography with nephrotomography and radionuclide imaging was excellent. In the 15-19 year age group, polycystic kidney disease was diagnosed in only 30% of 33 subjects at risk, whereas the expected figure was 50%. The disease was diagnosed in 57% of 228 subjects at risk who were aged over 19. When the probands were excluded, this figure was 43% and did not differ significantly from the expected 50%. These data suggest that persons at risk aged over 19 years who have normal urograms and radionuclide images have less than a 5% chance of having inherited the gene for polycystic kidney disease.

Ultrasonic evaluation of radiation therapy ports.

Radiation therapy is useful in the palliative treatment of large, unresectable abdominal and pelvic malignancies. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of B mode ultrasound scanning as an adjunct in radiation treatment planning of these patients. Fifty-one patients with large abdominal or pelvic masses had radiation therapy ports established using findings from surgery, radiographs, and physical examination. All the patients then had B mode ultrasound examinations. The position of the therapy ports was marked on the echogram. Thirty-one of the 51 patients studied (61%) had evidence of extension of tumor beyond the therapy ports. This was often due to "iceberging", i.e. when the deep portion of the tumor was considerably larger than the palpable margins of the superficial portion. B mode ultrasound scanning is a valuable adjunct in planning palliative radiation therapy of patients with large, unresectable, abdominal and pelvic malignancies.

Effect of methandrostenolone on postmenopausal bone wasting as assessed by changes in total bone mineral mass.

To assess the efficacy of methandrostenolone in the treatment of osteoporosis a 26-mo double-blind study was performed with 13 treated and 13 control (placebo) postmenopausal osteoporotic females. Drug effect was assessed primarily by determinations of total body calcium (TBC) by neutron activation analysis, essentially a measurement of total bone mineral mass. Results in the 16 patients completing the study (10 treated and 6 placebo), as well as in all 26 patients participating in the study, showed significant (p less than 0.01) differences in the change in TBC between treated and control groups. In patients dropping out, TBC changes through the time of dropout were similar to those in patients completing the study. In those patients completing the study, TBC increased 2% in the treated group and decreased 3% in the placebo group. An approximate sixfold difference in extraskeletal calcium balance would be required to explain the magnitude of the observed intergroup TBC difference. The drug effect appeared to persist throughout the 26-mo observation period. Thus these data strongly suggest that long-term use of methandrostenolone in postmenopausal osteoporosis prevented bone loss; the possibility that it increased bone mass above initial values is less certain.

Bone trauma and related benign disease: assessment by bone scanning.

The radionuclide investigation of skeletal trauma in the past was confined generally to scintimetry and an occasional bone scan. The development of improved radiopharmaceuticals, including 99mTc-labeled compounds with their enhanced sensitivity, and the refinement of imaging devices offering superior resolution and speed have allowed a more detailed assessment of conditions resulting from trauma. Practical approaches to the diagnosis of subtle bone injury resulting in stress fracture, the differentiation between delayed healing and nonunion, and early recognition of avascular necrosis and osteomyelitis are now available. The changing pattern of radionuclide uptake in bone following damage by radiation and other abnormalities as a consequence of trauma also can be easily studied.

Comparison of 85Sr, 87mSr, 18F, and 99mTc-labeled phosphates for bone scanning.

The observation by Subramanian and his co-workers that a 99mTc-labeled polyphosphate had excellent affinity for bone has led to widespread use of 99mTc-labeled phosphates as bone scanning agents. Initially, only polyphosphate was employed, but because of somewhat inconstant results and difficulty in preparation of this product, other phosphate compounds were sought. We soon discovered that an inorganic compound, pyrophosphate, appeared to have certain advantages over polyphosphate. Other workers formulated diphosphonates (organic phosphates) which also demonstrated advantages over polyphosphates. Comparison studies in rabbits utilizing 85Sr, 87mSr, 18F, and several phosphates (inorganic and organic) proved the 99mTc-labeled phosphates to be clearly superior in delineating normal skeletal anatomy. Studies in humans confirmed that excellent visualization of bone was obtained with 99mTc-labeled phosphates using either a gamma camera or a rectilinear scanner. What was not known, however, was just how reliable this class of agents would prove to be in detecting bone disease when compared to bone-seeking radiopharmaceuticals such as 85Sr, 87mSr, and 18F. Further comparative analyses have clearly demonstrated that both inorganic and organic 99mTc phosphate complexes are extremely sensitive in revealing more bone disease than the older bone scanning agents.