Few studies using Positron Emission Tomography with F-fluorodeoxyglucose (F-FDG-PET) have examined the neurobiological basis of antipsychotic resistance in schizophrenia, primarily focusing on metabolic activity, with none investigating connectivity patterns. Here, we aimed to explore differential patterns of glucose metabolism between patients and controls (CTRL) through a graph theory-based approach and network comparison tests. PET scans with F-FDG were obtained by 70 subjects, 26 with treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS), 28 patients responsive to antipsychotics (nTRS), and 16 CTRL.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Coronary flow capacity (CFC) is a measure that integrates hyperemic myocardial blood flow and myocardial flow reserve to quantify the pathophysiological impact of coronary artery disease on vasodilator capacity. We assessed the prognostic value of CFC derived from Rb positron emission tomography/computed tomography in patients with suspected coronary artery disease and normal myocardial perfusion imaging.
Methods: We studied 1967 patients with suspected coronary artery disease and normal myocardial perfusion at the semiquantitative analysis of stress/rest cardiac Rb positron emission tomography/computed tomography imaging.
Whole-body positron emission tomography (PET)-computed tomography (CT) imaging performed for oncological purposes may provide additional parameters such as the coronary artery calcium (CAC) and epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) volume with cost-effective prognostic information in asymptomatic people beyond traditional cardiovascular risk factors. We evaluated the feasibility of measuring the CAC score and EAT volume in cancer patients without known coronary artery disease (CAD) referred to whole-body F-FDG PET-CT imaging, regardless of the main clinical problem. We also investigated the potential relationships between traditional cardiovascular risk factors and CAC with EAT volume.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) are non-invasive nuclear medicine techniques that can identify areas of abnormal myocardial perfusion. We assessed the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) undergoing SPECT or PET stress myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). Based on significant risk factors associated with an abnormal MPI, we developed a nomogram for each cohort as a pretest that would be helpful in decision-making for clinicians.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTwo-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides, particularly MoS, are interesting materials for many applications in aerospace research, radiation therapy and bioscience more in general. Since in many of these applications MoS-based nanomaterials can be placed in an aqueous environment while exposed to ionizing radiation, both experimental and theoretical studies of their behaviour under these conditions is particularly interesting. Here, we study the effects of tiny imparted doses of 511 keV photons to MoS nanoflakes in water solution.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim of the present study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of radionuclide therapy with [Lu]Lu-DOTA-TATE according to our single center experience at the University of Naples Federico II. For the present analysis, we considered 21 patients with progressive, advanced, well-differentiated G1 and G2 in patients with gastro-entero-pancreatic (GEP) neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) treated with [Lu]Lu-DOTA-TATE according to the decisions of a multidisciplinary team. All patients underwent four cycles of 7-8 GBq of [Lu]Lu-DOTA-TATE every 8 weeks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Bone mineral density (BMD) is reduced in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Trabecular bone score (TBS) is an additional feature calculated by dual-energy X ray absorption (DXA) that measures texture inhomogeneity at lumbar spine level, providing an index of bone microarchitecture. However, its clinical value still needs to be fully addressed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) patients have an outstanding overall long-term survival rate, and certain subsets of DTC patients have a very high likelihood of disease recurrence. Radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy is a cornerstone in DTC management, but cancer cells can eventually develop resistance to RAI. Radioactive iodine-refractory DTC (RAIR-DTC) is a condition defined by ATA 2015 guidelines when DTC cannot concentrate RAI ab initio or loses RAI uptake ability after the initial therapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn innovative multicompartmental anatomic brain phantom (StepBrain) is described to simulate the in vivo tracer uptake of gray matter, white matter, and striatum, overcoming the limitations of currently available phantoms. StepBrain was created by exploiting the potential of fused deposition modeling 3-dimensional printing to replicate the real anatomy of the brain compartments, as modeled through ad hoc processing of healthy-volunteer MR images. A realistic simulation of F-FDG PET brain studies, using target activity to obtain the real concentration ratios, was obtained, and the results of postprocessing with partial-volume effect correction tools developed for human PET studies confirmed the accuracy of these methods in recovering the target activity concentrations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) are referred to radioactive I (RAI) therapy and post-therapy I whole-body scintigraphy (WBS) to identify local and/or remote metastases. Positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) imaging with F-fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) or F-sodium fluoride (NaF) may also be used with these patients for the evaluation of bone metastases. We compared the role of F-NaF PET/CT and F-FDG-PET/CT in patients with DTC and documented bone metastases at post-therapy WBS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: We evaluated the impact on cardiovascular outcome of coronary revascularization-induced changes in ischemic total perfusion defect (ITPD) and myocardial flow reserve (MFR) as assessed by Rb positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) imaging.
Methods: The study included 102 patients referred to Rb PET/CT myocardial perfusion imaging before and after coronary revascularization. All patients were followed for the occurrence of cardiovascular events (cardiac death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, repeated revascularization, and heart failure) after the second imaging study.
Mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIA (MPS IIIA or Sanfilippo syndrome type A) is an autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disorder caused by pathogenic variants in the SGSH gene encoding N-sulfoglucosamine sulfohydrolase, an enzyme involved in the degradation of heparan sulfate. MPS IIIA is typically characterized by neurocognitive decline and hepatosplenomegaly with childhood onset. Here, we report on a 53-year-old male subject initially diagnosed with Usher syndrome for the concurrence of retinitis pigmentosa and sensorineural hearing loss.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Extraprostatic extension (EPE) of prostate cancer (PCa) is predicted using clinical nomograms. Incorporating MRI could represent a leap forward, although poor sensitivity and standardization represent unsolved issues. MRI radiomics has been proposed for EPE prediction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProstate cancer is the most frequent epithelial neoplasia after skin cancer in men starting from 50 years and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) dosage can be used as an early screening tool. Prostate cancer imaging includes several radiological modalities, ranging from ultrasonography, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance to nuclear medicine hybrid techniques such as single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/CT and positron emission tomography (PET)/CT. Innovation in radiopharmaceutical compounds has introduced specific tracers with diagnostic and therapeutic indications, opening the horizons to targeted and very effective clinical care for patients with prostate cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The prevalence of traditional cardiovascular risk factors shows different age-specific patterns. It is not known whether the prognostic impact of risk factors is similarly age-specific. We evaluated the profiles of cardiovascular risk factors and their prognostic impact on coronary artery disease (CAD) in relation to age.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe assessed the outcome of administration of empiric radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy to patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC), in a propensity-score-matched cohort of patients with biochemical incomplete response (BIR) and without evidence of structural disease. We retrospectively evaluated 820 DTC patients without distant metastases, who underwent total thyroidectomy followed by RAI therapy, with available BIR at 12 months and follow-up evaluations. The patients were categorized according to the administration of empiric therapy (ET).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiagnostics (Basel)
August 2023
Anderson-Fabry disease (AFD) is a rare multisystem X-linked lysosomal storage disorder caused by α-galactosidase A enzyme deficiency. Long-term cardiac involvement in AFD results in left ventricular hypertrophy and myocardial fibrosis, inducing several complications, mainly arrhythmias, valvular dysfunction, and coronary artery disease. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) represents the predominant noninvasive imaging modality for the assessment of cardiac involvement in the AFD, being able to comprehensively assess cardiac regional anatomy, ventricular function as well as to provide tissue characterization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Aim of this study was to define the prognostic value of stress myocardial perfusion imaging by cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) for prediction of adverse cardiovascular events in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease (CAD).
Methods And Results: Studies published until November 2022 were identified by database search. We included studies using stress myocardial perfusion imaging by CZT-SPECT to evaluate subjects with known or suspected CAD and providing primary data of adverse cardiovascular events.
Gastro-entero-pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (GEP-NENs) constitute an ideal target for radiolabeled somatostatin analogs. The theragnostic approach is able to combine diagnosis and therapy by the identification of a molecular target that can be diagnosed and treated with the same radiolabeled compound. During the last years, advances in functional imaging with the introduction of somatostatin analogs and peptide receptor radionuclide therapy, have improved the diagnosis and treatment of GEP-NENs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Indeterminate adrenal masses (AM) pose a diagnostic challenge, and 2-[F]FDG PET-CT serves as a problem-solving tool. Aim of this study was to investigate whether CT radiomics features could be used to predict the 2-[F]FDG SUVmax of AM.
Methods: Patients with AM on 2-[F]FDG PET-CT scan were grouped based on iodine contrast injection as CT contrast-enhanced (CE) or CT unenhanced (NCE).