A statistical framework for planning and analysing test-retest studies of repeatability.

There is an increasing number of potential quantitative biomarkers that could allow for early assessment of treatment response or disease progression. However, measurements of such biomarkers are subject to random variability. Hence, differences of a biomarker in longitudinal measurements do not necessarily represent real change but might be caused by this random measurement variability.

Robustness of apparent diffusion coefficient-based lymph node classification for diagnosis of prostate cancer metastasis.

Objectives: The aim of this proof-of-principle study combining data analysis and computer simulation was to evaluate the robustness of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values for lymph node classification in prostate cancer under conditions comparable to clinical practice.

Materials And Methods: To assess differences in ADC and inter-rater variability, ADC values of 359 lymph nodes in 101 patients undergoing simultaneous prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-PET/MRI were retrospectively measured by two blinded readers and compared in a node-by-node analysis with respect to lymph node status. In addition, a phantom and 13 patients with 86 lymph nodes were prospectively measured on two different MRI scanners to analyze inter-scanner agreement.

Diffusion-Weighted MRI for Treatment Response Assessment in Osteoblastic Metastases-A Repeatability Study.

The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) is a candidate marker of treatment response in osteoblastic metastases that are not evaluable by morphologic imaging. However, it is unclear whether the ADC meets the basic requirement for reliable treatment response evaluation, namely a low variance of repeated measurements in relation to the differences found between viable and nonviable metastases. The present study addresses this question by analyzing repeated in vivo ADC measurements of 65 osteoblastic metastases in nine patients, as well as phantom measurements.

Respiratory motion correction in F-18-FDG PET/CT impacts lymph node assessment in lung cancer patients.

Backgrounds: Elastic motion correction in PET has been shown to increase image quality and quantitative measurements of PET datasets affected by respiratory motion. However, little is known on the impact of respiratory motion correction on clinical image evaluation in oncologic PET. This study evaluated the impact of motion correction on expert readers' lymph node assessment of lung cancer patients.

Predictors of Anxiety and Depression in Differentiated Thyroid Cancer Survivors: Results of a Cross-Sectional Study.

Despite an excellent survival rate, impairments are recognized in the quality of life and emotional well-being of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) survivors. Predictors for anxiety and depression in DTC patients are not well characterized. To identify predictors for anxiety and depression in DTC survivors.

F-FDG-PET-MRI for the assessment of acute intestinal graft-versus-host-disease (GvHD).

Background: Graft versus host disease (GvHD) is a frequent complication of allogeneic stem cell transplantation (alloSCT), significantly increasing mortality. Previous imaging studies focused on the assessment of intestinal GvHD with contrast-enhanced MRI/CT or F-FDG-PET imaging alone. The objective of this retrospective study was to elucidate the diagnostic value of a combined F-FDG-PET-MRI protocol in patients with acute intestinal GvHD.

Fluorodeoxyglucose F 18 for the Assessment of Acute Intestinal Graft-versus-Host Disease and Prediction of Response to Immunosuppressive Therapy.

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a common complication that increases morbidity and mortality after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT). Fluorodeoxyglucose F 18 (F-FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) imaging has been demonstrated to be highly informative for evaluating and mapping of intestinal GVHD. To corroborate and extend existing findings and to investigate whether glucose metabolism assessed by F-FDG-PET might be an effective diagnostic tool to predict corticosteroid-refractory acute GVHD and overall survival.

Minimal extrathyroid extension in papillary micro carcinoma of the thyroid is an independent risk factor for relapse through lymph node and distant metastases.

Minimal extrathyroid extension (mETE) is no longer considered in the new 8th edition of the AJCC/UICC staging system. Therefore, papillary thyroid microcarcinoma with mETE previously staged as pT3 will now be staged as pT1a and most likely not receive adjuvant radioiodine therapy. However, it remains unclear if mETE is associated with higher aggressiveness in papillary thyroid microcarcinoma.

Prevalence of hyperfunctioning thyroid nodules among those in need of fine needle aspiration cytology according to ATA 2015, EU-TIRADS, and ACR-TIRADS.

Purpose: Given the large number of patients with thyroid nodules, improvement of the specificity of current ultrasound-based thyroid nodule classification systems (ATA, EU-TIRADS, and ACR-TIRADS) is warranted to reduce the number of diagnostic thyroidectomies. Thyroid scintigraphy has been shown to demonstrate hyperfunctional nodules, associated with a low malignancy risk, in euthyroid patients. However, it is not known if thyroid scintigraphy could improve specificity of current classification systems.

Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen-Negative Metastases-A Potential Pitfall in Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen PET.

Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT was performed in a 74-year-old man because of biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer following radiation therapy of the prostate gland 24 months earlier. Besides focal nuclide accumulation in the prostate gland suggestive of local recurrence, PET scan revealed no further pathologic uptake. However, CT showed multiple pulmonic nodules suggestive of metastases.

Targeting PSMA by radioligands in non-prostate disease-current status and future perspectives.

Background: Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is the up-and-coming target for molecular imaging of prostate cancer. Despite its name, non-prostate-related PSMA expression in physiologic tissue as well as in benign and malignant disease has been reported in various publications. Unlike in prostate cancer, PSMA expression is only rarely observed in non-prostate tumor cells.

Impact of PET acquisition durations on image quality and lesion detectability in whole-body Ga-PSMA PET-MRI.

Background: While Ga-PSMA PET-MRI might be superior to PET-CT with regard to soft tissue assessment in prostate cancer evaluation, it is also known to potentially introduce additional PET image artefacts. Therefore, the impact of PET acquisition duration and attenuation data on artefact occurrence, lesion detectability, and quantification was investigated. To this end, whole-body PET list mode data from 12 patients with prostate cancer were acquired 1 h after injection of 2 MBq/kg [Ga]HBED-CC-PSMA on a hybrid PET-MRI system.

Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor Showing Intense Tracer Uptake on PSMA PET/CT.

A 70-year-old man with suspected prostate cancer was referred for Ga-PSMA-HBED-CC PET/CT (short PSMA PET/CT) for staging of tumor extent. Apart from vivid tracer uptake in the prostate gland and osseous metastasis, PSMA PET/CT revealed a large soft tissue mass with calcifications in the left upper abdomen showing intense tracer uptake. Histologic examination revealed the mass to be a gastrointestinal stromal tumor.

An artefact of PET attenuation correction caused by iron overload of the liver in clinical PET-MRI.

Background: Attenuation correction is one of the most important steps in producing quantitative PET image data. In hybrid PET-MRI systems, this correction is far from trivial, as MRI data are not correlated to PET attenuation properties of the scanned object. Commercially available systems often employ correction schemes based on segmenting the body into different tissue classes (air, lung tissue, fat-, and water-like soft tissue), e.

Long Distance Endovascular Growth of Jugulotympanic Paraganglioma Evident in 68Ga-DOTATATE PET but Concealed on CT.

A 60-year-old woman was referred to contrast-enhanced CT for evaluation of jugular vein thrombosis incidentally detected by ultrasound. Contrast-enhanced CT showed an enhanced tumor of the right skull base highly suspicious of jugulotympanic paraganglioma. However, the jugular veins showed a nearly symmetric contrast enhancement without clear evidence of thrombosis.

Subacute Stroke Mimicking Cerebral Metastasis in 68Ga-PSMA-HBED-CC PET/CT.

A 65-year-old man with disseminated bone metastases of prostate cancer was referred for Ga-PSMA-HBED-CC-PET/CT (short PSMA-PET/CT) to exclude visceral metastases before treatment of bone metastases with Ra-dichloride. Apart from disseminated bone metastases, PSMA-PET/CT revealed a focal cerebral tracer uptake in the right frontal lobe highly suspicious for cerebral spread. According to patient history, a cerebral infarction occurred 14 days before PSMA imaging in corresponding localization confirmed by MRI scanning.

[(68)Ga]DOTATATE PET/MRI and [(18)F]FDG PET/CT are complementary and superior to diffusion-weighted MR imaging for radioactive-iodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether [(68)Ga]DOTATATE PET/MRI with diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) can replace or complement [(18)F]FDG PET/CT in patients with radioactive-iodine (RAI)-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC).

Methods: The study population comprised 12 patients with elevated thyroglobulin and a negative RAI scan after thyroidectomy and RAI remnant ablation who underwent both [(18)F]FDG PET/CT and [(68)Ga]DOTATATE PET/MRI within 8 weeks of each other. The presence of recurrent cancer was evaluated on a per-patient, per-organ and per-lesion basis.