Safety and Efficacy of Y Selective Internal Radiation Therapy Using Glass Microspheres in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Southeast Asian Single-Institution Initial Experience.

Our objective was to demonstrate primarily the safety and secondarily the efficacy of Y glass microspheres in selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in a local Southeast Asian hospital. Eleven consecutive patients with small, unresectable, nonmetastatic HCC and referred for locoregional therapy with SIRT with a curative intention were followed up for 6 mo after the procedure by way of interviews, blood tests, and anatomic scans. Although 5 patients had deranged liver function tests after the procedure, in only 1 patient did this constitute a grade 1 toxicity (in alkaline phosphatase) by the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events.

Current Status and Growth of Nuclear Theranostics in Singapore.

The concept of theranostics, where individual patient-level biological information is used to choose the optimal therapy for that individual, has become more popular in the modern era of 'personalised' medicine. With the growth of theranostics, nuclear medicine as a specialty is uniquely poised to grow along with the ever-increasing number of concepts combining imaging and therapy. This special report summarises the status and growth of Theranostic Nuclear Medicine in Singapore.

Perinephric urinoma due to locally advanced recto-sigmoid tumor: incidental finding on bone scan.

We are presenting a 59 years old man with locally advanced recto-sigmoid colon cancer; complaining of left flank pain and bone scan was done to rule out bone metastases. Findings in bone scan were suggesting left renal obstruction, but further SPECT/CT imaging to localize the uptake revealed a perinephric collection likely due to leak from the left ureter close to tumor site.

Personalized predictive lung dosimetry by technetium-99m macroaggregated albumin SPECT/CT for yttrium-90 radioembolization.

Background: For yttrium-90 ((90)Y) radioembolization, the common practice of assuming a standard 1,000-g lung mass for predictive dosimetry is fundamentally incongruent with the modern philosophy of personalized medicine. We recently developed a technique of personalized predictive lung dosimetry using technetium-99m ((99m)Tc) macroaggregated albumin (MAA) single photon emission computed tomography with integrated CT (SPECT/CT) of the lung as part of our routine dosimetric protocol for (90)Y radioembolization. Its rationales are the technical superiority of SPECT/CT over planar scintigraphy, ease and convenience of lung auto-segmentation CT densitovolumetry, and dosimetric advantage of patient-specific lung parenchyma masses.

Incidental detection of clinically nondiagnosed inguinal hernia in (131)I whole-body scan.

I whole-body bone scan was performed for an adult male patient after postradioactive iodine ablation of thyroid carcinoma. Besides the small thyroid remnants in the neck region, an incidental detection of left inguinal hernia was made in the scan, which was later confirmed by clinical examination. Despite the large size of the hernia, the patient was unaware of the condition.

Fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT for the evaluation of suspected recurrent uterine leiomyosarcomas.

Background: Uterine leiomyosarcomas are rare and aggressive malignancies of the uterine corpus with high recurrence rates and poor prognoses. The current recommendation for detection of recurrent uterine leiomyosarcoma involves periodic physical examination and conventional imaging such as CT or MRI. The role of fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography with integrated computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) in the detection of recurrent uterine leiomyosarcomas is not yet established.

The potential of hybrid SPECT/CT fusion imaging to improve diagnostic accuracy in the scintigraphic quantitative functional assessment of suspected unilateral mandibular hyperactivity.

Background: Mandibular asymmetry is commonly caused by disproportionate mandibular growth due to unilateral condylar hyperactivity. The current standard for mandibular condyle bone scintigraphy uses single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging after intravenous administration of technetium-99m-labeled diphosphates. To our knowledge, the use of hybrid SPECT integrated with multidetector computed tomography (SPECT/CT) imaging in the scintigraphic quantitative functional assessment of mandibular condyle growth has not yet been described.

Intensely hypermetabolic extra-axial brainstem tumor in Erdheim-Chester disease.

Erdheim-Chester disease is a rare non-Langerhans cell histiocytosis characterized by progressive histiocytic proliferation with multiorgan involvement, typically of the kidney, skin, brain, and lung, and less frequently, the heart and retro-orbital tissue. Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (F-18 FDG PET) plays an important role in the management of this disease. It has been reported that FDG PET imaging allows accurate evaluation of the extent of the disease at baseline, as well as assessment of response to any specific therapy.