Publications by authors named "Chi-Lun Ko"
This 2025 updated consensus outlines the diagnostic strategy for transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM). Given that ATTR-CM is a significant contributor to heart failure, this article emphasizes the importance of making an early and precise diagnosis, particularly as new therapeutic options become available. Highlighting the critical importance of an early and accurate diagnosis, particularly in light of emerging therapeutic modalities, this consensus underscores the central role of Tc-pyrophosphate (PYP) scintigraphy as a non-invasive diagnostic tool.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics, specifically patisiran and vutrisiran, were studied for their effects on transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CA) by analyzing SPECT/CT imaging outcomes.
- Eight patients with hereditary ATTR-CA were monitored, with one group starting RNAi treatment alongside their first imaging, and another group being on treatment prior to imaging.
- Findings revealed a significant decrease in a volumetric heart/lung ratio in patients receiving RNAi therapies, indicating potential benefits in managing ATTR-CA symptoms.
Objective: We aimed to investigate whether 2-[F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (2-[F]FDG PET/CT) can aid in evaluating the risk of malignancy in ampullary tumors detected by endoscopy.
Materials And Methods: This single-center retrospective cohort study analyzed 155 patients (79 male, 76 female; mean age, 65.7 ± 12.
Article Synopsis
- Hereditary transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (hATTR-CM) is a severe and progressive heart disease, and this study investigates how eplontersen therapy affects the monitoring of this condition using bone scintigraphy.
- The research analyzed data from the NEURO-TTRansform trial, comparing patients taking eplontersen with a control group not on this treatment, and noted significant reductions in heart and lung volume ratios in those receiving eplontersen.
- The results indicate that eplontersen may effectively treat hATTR-CM, and the use of technetium-99m-pyrophosphate imaging could be crucial for assessing treatment effectiveness.
Background: Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) is an obliterative and diffuse form of vasculopathy and is the most common cause of long-term cardiovascular mortality in heart transplant patients. This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic performance of Tc and Tl tracers in the assessment of CAV using cadmium-zinc-telluride (CZT) single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) for myocardial blood flow (MBF) and myocardial flow reserve (MFR) quantification, which was further validated using N-NH positron emission tomography (PET).
Methods: Thirty-eight patients with prior heart transplantation who underwent CZT SPECT and N-NH PET dynamic scans were included in this study.
Objective: To quantitatively assess the pulmonary vasculature using non-contrast computed tomography (CT) in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) pre- and post-treatment and correlate CT-based parameters with right heart catheterization (RHC) hemodynamic and clinical parameters.
Materials And Methods: A total of 30 patients with CTEPH (mean age, 57.9 years; 53% female) who received multimodal treatment, including riociguat for ≥ 16 weeks with or without balloon pulmonary angioplasty and underwent both non-contrast CT for pulmonary vasculature analysis and RHC pre- and post-treatment were included.
Purpose: Deep learning (DL) models have been shown to outperform total perfusion deficit (TPD) quantification in predicting obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) from myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). However, previously published methods have depended on polar maps, required manual correction, and normal database. In this study, we propose a polar map-free 3D DL algorithm to predict obstructive disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: This retrospective study aimed to determine the prognostic value of imaging parameters derived from midtherapy 18F-fluorodihydroxyphenylalanine (18F-DOPA) and 18F-FDG PET in pediatric patients with stage 3-4 neuroblastoma.
Methods: We enrolled 32 stage 3-4 pediatric neuroblastoma patients who underwent 18F-DOPA and 18F-FDG PET/CT scans before and after 3 chemotherapy cycles. We measured metabolic and volumetric parameters and applied a metabolic burden scoring system to evaluate the primary tumor extent and soft tissue metastases and that of bone/bone marrow involvement.
Objectives: We sought to investigate whether preoperative dual-phase 2-[F]FDG PET-CT identify predictors for poor survival in patients with ampullary carcinoma receiving pancreaticoduodenectomy.
Methods: The preoperative PET-CT images of patients with resected ampullary carcinoma from June 2007 to July 2017 were analyzed. Survival curves were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared with the log-rank test.
The heterogeneity of brain perfusion is related to the risk factors of thromboembolic events such as antiphospholipid syndrome. However, the effectiveness of brain perfusion heterogeneity as a marker to predict thromboembolic events has not been confirmed. Our objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of brain perfusion heterogeneity as a marker to predict the development of cerebrovascular accidents.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Data on the efficacy and safety of balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) in Taiwanese patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) are lacking. In this study, we evaluated the effects of BPA on clinical parameters including hemodynamics, echocardiography and functional status in patients with inoperable CTEPH in Taiwan.
Methods: We retrospectively collected the clinical data of inoperable CTEPH patients who underwent ≥3 BPA sessions.
Background: Few studies have investigated the effects of riociguat on pulmonary hemodynamics in Asian patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). In this study, we evaluated the effects of riociguat on pulmonary hemodynamics in inoperable CTEPH patients.
Methods: We retrospectively collected the clinical data of 11 inoperable CTEPH patients.
Autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) shares overlapping clinical features with pancreatic cancer (PC). Importantly, treatment of the two conditions is different. We investigated the clinical usefulness of F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in patients with suspected AIP before treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The non-criteria neuropsychiatric manifestations of antiphospholipid syndrome include headache, dizziness, vertigo, seizure, depression and psychosis. There were still no objective methods qualified to detect the early central nervous system involvement in non-criteria antiphospholipid syndrome. We evaluated the effectiveness of Tc-99m ECD SPECT in assessing circulatory insufficiency in the brains of patients with antiphospholipid antibodies and neuropsychiatric symptoms but without thromboembolism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPET/MRI for evaluating subclinical inflammation of ulcerative colitis.
J Magn Reson Imaging
March 2018
Purpose: To explore the utility of integrated positron emission tomography (PET) / magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for evaluating subclinical inflammation in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC).
Materials And Methods: This prospective study was approved by the Institutional Review Board and informed consent was obtained. Between November 2015 and April 2016, 19 consecutive patients with UC in clinical remission were enrolled.
Purpose: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is characterized by abnormally increased pulmonary vascular pressure, leading to deteriorated right ventricular function and premature death. Pulmonary mean transit time (PMTT) and biventricular function response to exercise in first-pass radionuclide angiography (FP-RNA) may provide early detection and timely disease monitoring of PH. This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic and prognostic values of this imaging modality in PH patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: This study determined the prognostic value of volumetric parameters derived from pretreatment F-FDG and F-DOPA PET/CT of neuroblastoma and their correlation with clinical and histopathologic features.
Patients And Methods: A total of 25 children with neuroblastoma underwent pretreatment F-FDG and F-DOPA PET/CT within 4 weeks. The SUVmax of primary tumors on F-FDG and F-DOPA PET were recorded as SUVFDG and SUVDOPA, respectively.
Myocardial fibrosis leads to a restrictive diastolic filling pattern of the left ventricle which is associated with a poor prognosis in patients with heart failure. We investigated the relationship between cardiac fibrosis and restrictive filling pattern of the left ventricle measured by Tc99m left ventriculography in patients with chronic symptomatic heart failure. Serum cardiac extracellular matrix markers including type I and III aminoterminal propeptide of procollagen (PINP and PIIINP), matrix metalloproteinase-2,9 (MMP-2,9), and tissue inhibitor of MMP-1 (TIMP-1) were analyzed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: The aim of this study was to investigate whether the textural features of pretreatment F-FDG PET images can predict prognosis for nasal type extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (ENKTL).
Materials And Methods: A retrospective analysis of the pretreatment F-FDG PET images of the patients with newly diagnosed nasal type ENKTL from 2008 to 2013 was conducted. Progression-free survival (PFS) was the main outcome measure.
Unlabelled: Radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) with single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) has been widely used clinically as one of the major functional imaging modalities for patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) for decades. Ample evidence has supported the use of MPI as a useful and important tool in the diagnosis, risk stratification and treatment planning for CAD. Although popular in the United States, MPI has become the most frequently used imaging modality among all nuclear medicine tests in Taiwan.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: We compared biventricular ejection fractions (EFs) from gated blood-pool single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) using a cadmium-zinc-telluride camera (CZT-SPECT) with planar equilibrium radionuclide angiography (ERNA) using a NaI gamma camera (NaI-planar). We also evaluated whether imaging time can be reduced without compromising image quality using the CZT camera.
Methods: Forty-eight patients underwent NaI-planar and CZT-SPECT on the same day.
Objectives: PET/CT with F-fluorodeoxyglucose can be used to image cellular metabolism and has been used for evaluating fever of unknown origin in adults. However, there are limited studies about the role of F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT in evaluation of fever of unknown origin in critically ill children, especially those presenting with complicated underlying diseases under treatment. Here, we report our preliminary experience using F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT in this specific group of patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: This study described a method for tracking and compensating respiratory motion in cadmium-zinc-telluride (CZT) cameras. We evaluated motion effects on myocardial perfusion imaging and assessed the usefulness of motion compensation in phantom and clinical studies.
Methods: SPECT studies were obtained from an oscillating heart phantom and 552 patients using CZT cameras with list-mode acquisition.