Quantitative evaluation of contrast-enhanced ultrasound after intravenous administration of a microbubble contrast agent for differentiation of benign and malignant thyroid nodules: assessment of diagnostic accuracy.

Objectives: To investigate the diagnostic accuracy, through quantitative analysis, of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS), using a microbubble contrast agent, in the differentiation of thyroid nodules.

Methods: This prospective study enrolled 46 patients with solitary, scintigraphically non-functional thyroid nodules. These patients were scheduled for surgery and underwent preoperative CEUS with pulse-inversion harmonic imaging after intravenous microbubble contrast medium administration.

Diagnostic imaging in Merkel cell carcinoma: lessons to learn from 16 cases with correlation of sonography, CT, MRI and PET.

Objective: The authors report imaging findings in a series of 16 patients with MCC, a rare tumour which is often managed primarily by a dermatologist. To our knowledge, no equivalent series of MCC has been described in the nuclear medicine literature.

Material And Methods: In this IRB-approved retrospective noncomparative case series 16 patients with biopsy-proven Merkel cell carcinoma were included between January 1999 and October 2007.

SPECT/CT fusion imaging in radionuclide cisternography for localization of liquor leakage sites.

Objective: We report our experience with radionuclide cisternography (RC) with 111In-diethylenthriamine penta-acetic acid (DTPA) using a computed tomography (CT) mounted hybrid gamma camera in patients with cerebrospinal liquor leakage.

Methods: SPECT/CT fusion imaging was performed in case of suspected tracer egress on planar or SPECT images in order to obtain a detailed correlation of the leakage site.

Results: Leakage was detected in all 3 patients.

Vascular endothelial growth factor in thyroid cyst fluids.

Background: The pathogenesis of cystic thyroid nodules is incompletely understood. Based on the assumption that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) may play an important role in the pathogenesis of thyroid cyst fluid, we investigated the VEGF concentration in cyst fluids of thyroid lesions.

Design: Cyst fluids from 24 patients (age 31-84 years) were obtained using ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration.

Typical chest pain and normal coronary angiogram: cardiac risk factor analysis versus PET for detection of microvascular disease.

Unlabelled: Angiography of patients with typical chest pain reveals normal epicardial coronary arteries in about 20%. Coronary flow reserve (CFR) determination is an elaborate, but helpful, task, as only the evidence of microvascular disease enables appropriate therapy. We prospectively evaluated the incidence of a dysfunctional microcirculation and searched for predictive parameters of a reduced CFR.

Calcitonin measurements for early detection of medullary thyroid carcinoma or its premalignant conditions in Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

The measurement of basal serum calcitonin (CT) in patients with evidence of Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) has been proposed in a recent study demonstrating an increased prevalence of elevated basal and stimulated CT. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency and relevance of elevated CT levels in HT. The basal sera CT were measured in 568 consecutive HT patients using a chemiluminescent immuno-assay.

Vasoactive intestinal peptide as a new drug for treatment of primary pulmonary hypertension.

Primary pulmonary hypertension is a fatal disease causing progressive right heart failure within 3 years after diagnosis. We describe a new concept for treatment of the disease using vasoactive intestinal peptide, a neuropeptide primarily functioning as a neurotransmitter that acts as a potent systemic and pulmonary vasodilator. Our rationale is based on the finding of a deficiency of the peptide in serum and lung tissue of patients with primary pulmonary hypertension, as evidenced by radioimmunoassay and immunohistochemistry.