Ultra-fast whole-body bone tomoscintigraphies achieved with a high-sensitivity 360° CZT camera and a dedicated deep-learning noise reduction algorithm.

Unlabelled: This study aimed to determine whether the whole-body bone Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) recording times of around 10 min, routinely provided by a high-sensitivity 360° cadmium and zinc telluride (CZT) camera, can be further reduced by a deep-learning noise reduction (DLNR) algorithm.

Methods: DLNR was applied on whole-body images recorded after the injection of 545 ± 33 MBq of [Tc]Tc-HDP in 19 patients (14 with bone metastasis) and reconstructed with 100%, 90%, 80%, 70%, 60%, 50%, 40%, and 30% of the original SPECT recording times.

Results: Irrespective of recording time, DLNR enhanced the contrast-to-noise ratios and slightly decreased the standardized uptake values of bone lesions.

Targeted therapy monitoring of BRAF-V600-mutant Erdheim-Chester disease by fast quantitative whole-body bone CZT-tomoscintigraphies.

Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD) is a rare histiocytosis due to proto-oncogene mutations, primarily affecting the long bones and possibly being treated by novel targeted therapies. F-FDG PET is a reference technique for ECD assessment. However, we present a case where easier and more objective monitoring of the ECD-related bone metabolism abnormalities under treatment was obtained with the standardized uptake value-based information provided by fast whole-body [Tc-99 m]-HDP bone tomoscintigraphies (QWBT) recorded with a high-sensitivity CZT-camera/computed tomography (CT) hybrid system.

Functional Alterations Due to COVID-19 Lung Lesions-Lessons From a Multicenter V/Q Scan-Based Registry.

Purpose: In coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, clinical manifestations as well as chest CT lesions are variable. Lung scintigraphy allows to assess and compare the regional distribution of ventilation and perfusion throughout the lungs. Our main objective was to describe ventilation and perfusion injury by type of chest CT lesions of COVID-19 infection using V/Q SPECT/CT imaging.

Lung Scintigraphy for Pulmonary Embolism Diagnosis in COVID-19 Patients: A Multicenter Study.

In patients with novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) referred for lung scintigraphy because of suspected pulmonary embolism (PE), there has been an ongoing debate within the nuclear medicine community as to whether and when the ventilation imaging should be performed. Indeed, whereas PE diagnosis typically relies on the recognition of ventilation-perfusion (V/P) mismatched defects, the ventilation procedure potentially increases the risk of contamination to health-care workers. The primary aim of this study was to assess the role of ventilation imaging when lung scintigraphy is performed because of suspected PE in COVID-19 patients.

Bone Scintigraphy of Vertebral Fractures With a Whole-Body CZT Camera in a PET-Like Utilization.

An image display with a standardized uptake value (SUV) scale is recommended for analyzing PET exams, thus requiring the reconstruction of accurate images for both SUV measurement and visual analysis. This study aimed to determine whether such images may also be obtained with a high-speed CZT-SPECT/CT system, with a further application for the longitudinal monitoring of vertebral fractures. SPECT image reconstruction was optimized with an IEC phantom according to both image quality parameters and accuracy of measured activity.

Signs of tracheobronchitis may constitute the principal finding on the lung SPECT/CT images of COVID-19 patients.

Background: This study aimed to analyze the rates of tracheobronchitis signs observed on the ventilation scans of COVID-19 patients with shortness of breath, with comparisons to a non-COVID population.

Methods: Lung scintigraphy was collected in 10 such COVID patients, as well as from a non-COVID population investigated outside the epidemic wave period, on a CZT-SPECT/CT system, with ventilation images recorded with Tc-labeled Technegas® and perfusion images with Tc-labeled albumin macroaggregates.

Results: A diffuse tracheobronchial uptake was observed on the ventilation scans from 3 COVID patients (30%), whereas this rate was 3% (3/90) in the non-COVID group (P = 0.

CT abnormalities evocative of lung infection are associated with lower F-FDG uptake in confirmed COVID-19 patients.

Purpose: CT signs that are evocative of lung COVID-19 infections have been extensively described, whereas F-FDG-PET signs have not. Our current study aimed to identify specific COVID-19 F-FDG-PET signs in patients that were (i) suspected to have a lung infection based on F-FDG-PET/CT recorded during the COVID-19 outbreak and (ii) whose COVID-19 diagnosis was definitely established or excluded by appropriate viral testing.

Methods: Twenty-two consecutive patients referred for routine F-FDG-PET/CT examinations during the COVID-19 outbreak (March 25th to May 15th 2020) and for whom CT slices were evocative of a lung infection were included in the study.

Central Nervous System Myelomatosis Delineated by High-Resolution Brain Images From Fully Digital 18F-FDG PET.

Central nervous system myelomatosis is uncommon and is associated with a particularly poor prognosis. PET images, from a 53-year-old man referred to a fully digital F-FDG PET for relapsed multiple myeloma, revealed high F-FDG uptakes located in the cortex and sulci of the right central area and within the meningeal envelopes of the cerebellum, the trigeminal nerves, and on the spinal canal. These particular uptakes gave evidence of a central nervous system myelomatosis subsequently confirmed by plasma cells documented in cerebrospinal fluid.

[Lichtenstein versus Lichtenstein plus plug in prosthetic inguinal hernia repair: preliminary results of a prospective randomized controlled trial].

Background: Mesh- based hernioplasties became the reference in inguinal hernia repair.

Aim: To evaluate the results of combining a conic Plug to the Lichtenstein Mesh for inguinal hernia repair.

Methods: Between January 2007 and January 2009 we included 50 patients with primary or recurrent inguinal hernia in a prospective comparative randomized controlled trial.