Radio-guided selective compartment neck dissection improves staging in papillary thyroid carcinoma: a prospective study on 345 patients with a 3-year follow-up.

Background: Prospective uncontrolled study to investigate in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) patients: (1) Distribution of lymph node metastases within the neck compartments, (2) factors predicting lymph nodes metastases, and (3) disease recurrence after thyroidectomy associated with radio-guided selective compartment neck dissection (RSCND).

Methods: We studied 345 consecutive PTC patients operated on between February 2004 and October 2011 at the S. Anna University Hospital, Ferrara (Italy).

Metabolic responses in non-small cell lung cancer after hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy PET and hypofractionated radiotherapy.

Background: The aim of our study was to evaluate the pattern of local failure after stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) of non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) lesions relating to different type of 18F-FDG positron emission tomography (PET) response.

Methods: Thirteen NSCLC patients for a total of 15 lesions (primary early or locally advanced and metastases) underwent PET before and 6 months after SBRT. Maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax) <2.

The dilemma of diagnosing fever of unknown origin: large arteries vasculitis revealed by 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging. A case report.

Fever of unknown origin (FUO) is an uncommon disease, and its underlying etiology may include a number causes, i.e., infections, malignancies, autoimmune conditions.

Repeated brain conventional MRI and SPECT evaluation in systemic lupus erythematosus patients with and without neuropsychiatric involvement: a follow up study.

Objectives: To assess the utility of a combined neuroimaging approach in the follow up of patients affected by systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with and without neuropsychiatric (NP) involvement.

Methods: Patients who underwent a first combined brain conventional magnetic resonance imaging (cMRI) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and later repeated the same examinations between 2001 and 2008 were retrieved from a large database. Clinical and neuroimaging data were analysed and their relationships evaluated at baseline and at follow up.

[Magnetic resonance imaging for the evaluation of patients undergoing cardiac resynchronization therapy. Advantages, limitations and perspectives].

Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is a therapeutic option with proven efficacy in improving symptoms and reducing both hospitalization and mortality in patients with refractory heart failure. However, a significant number of patients do not respond to CRT and this may be due to incomplete or inappropriate selection and characterization of patients before pacemaker implant. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) is an imaging technique that may assist cardiologists in this regard.

A practical method for the estimation of therapeutic activity in the treatment of Graves' hyperthyroidism.

Aim: To test the efficacy of a practical method which allows the calculation of personalized activity in Graves' disease.

Methods: The method is based on International Commission of Radiological Protection (ICRP) 53 data. The model allows the prediction of the activity administered in order to release 300 Gy to the thyroid, once its iodine uptake and mass are known.

Central nervous system involvement in Sjögren's syndrome: unusual, but not unremarkable--clinical, serological characteristics and outcomes in a large cohort of Italian patients.

Objectives: To perform an observational retrospective cross-sectional case-control study to evaluate prevalence, clinical patterns and outcomes of CNS involvement in a large cohort of primary SS (pSS) patients.

Methods: A total of 424 pSS patients, diagnosed according to the 2002 criteria proposed by the American-European Consensus Group, were checked for CNS involvement after exclusion of secondary causes. Demographic, clinical, seroimmunological data were compared between patients with and without CNS involvement.

[18FDG-PET and large vessel vasculitis: preliminary data on 25 patients].

Objective: To evaluate the predictive value of clinical and biochemical features when compared to 18FDG-PET in the diagnostic work-up of large vessel vasculitis (LVV).

Methods: Twenty-five patients underwent 18FDG-PET for the clinical suspect of LVV. All of them presented history of systemic symptoms lasting >or=6 months and laboratoristic evidence of persistently high markers of inflammation.

Whole-body biodistribution and radiation dosimetry of the new cardiac tracer 99mTc-N-DBODC.

Unlabelled: Our purpose was to evaluate the safety profile and biodistribution behavior in healthy human volunteers of the new myocardial perfusion tracer bis[(dimethoxypropylphosphanyl)ethyl]ethoxyethylamine N,N'-bis(ethoxyethyl)dithiocarbamato nitrido technetium(V) (99mTc-N-DBODC).

Methods: Ten healthy male volunteers were injected with 99mTc-N-DBODC under both stress and rest conditions. Anterior and posterior planar gamma-camera images were collected at 5, 30, 60, 240, and 1,440 min after injection, with organ uptake quantified by region-of-interest analysis.

Single photon emission computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging evaluation in SLE patients with and without neuropsychiatric involvement.

Objective: To assess the relationship between clinical picture and neuroimaging in patients affected by SLE with and without neuropsychiatric (NP) involvement.

Methods: One hundred and seven SLE patients including 66 with NP involvement (NPSLE) with focal or diffuse presentation and 41 without underwent single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and MRI.

Results: After stratification for diffuse or focal NP involvement, in the 52 patients with diffuse presentation, abnormalities detected with MRI or SPECT did not differ from patients without NP; however, after combining the two techniques, a normal result was more frequently observed in patients without NP involvement (P = 0.

Radiolabelled somatostatin analogs for diagnosis and radio-guided surgery of neuroendocrine breast cancer undetectable with conventional imaging procedures.

Some neoplasms are classified as primary neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) because of their positivity for neuroendocrine markers [chromogranins A and B (CgA, CgB) and neuron-specific enolase (NSE)]. Neuroendocrine differentiation has been reported, for example, in both "in situ" and infiltrating breast cancer. Diagnosis of NET is bio-humoral (CgA, NSE, synaptophysin) and instrumental.

Use of preoperative lymphoscintigraphy and intraoperative gamma-probe detection for identification of the sentinel lymph node in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma.

Aims: Lymph node metastases for papillary thyroid carcinoma are associated with an increased incidence of locoregional recurrence. The use of preoperative lymphoscintigraphy and intraoperative gamma probe detection to localize the sentinel lymph node in papillary thyroid carcinoma was investigated.

Methods: From February 2004 to December 2005 the sentinel lymph node technique was studied in 64 consecutive patients with cytological evidence of papillary thyroid carcinoma.

Clinical and therapeutic importance of sentinel node biopsy of the internal mammary chain in patients with breast cancer: a single-center study with long-term follow-up.

Background: We evaluated the incidence of sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) in the internal mammary chain, calculated the lymphoscintigraphy and surgical detection rates, and evaluated the clinical effect on staging and the therapeutic approach in patients with breast cancer.

Methods: The study involved 741 women diagnosed with breast cancer eligible for the SLN technique. Lymphoscintigraphy was performed on the day before the operation by peritumoral injection of (99m)Tc-labeled nanocolloid.

Primary breast cancer features can predict additional lymph node involvement in patients with sentinel node micrometastases.

Objective: The aim of this retrospective study was to identify biological features of primary breast cancer from which to predict the presence of further axillary involvement in patients bearing micrometastases in the sentinel lymph node (SLN).

Methods: From a starting group of 690 patients, we isolated patients with micrometastases in the SLN. Those patients were classified according to the presence/absence of further metastases in nonsentinel lymph nodes (NSLNs).

A case of advanced Hodgkin lymphoma with breast involvement treated with a combination of gemcitabine and pegylated liposomal doxorubicin.

Gemcitabine in combination with pegylated liposomal doxorubicin has been recognized as an effective treatment in patients with refractory solid tumors. To our knowledge, this is the first case of relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma with breast involvement successfully treated with this association.

Accuracy and reliability of sentinel node biopsy in patients with breast cancer. Single centre study with long term follow-up.

The aim of our study is to evaluate the frequency of false-negative (FN) sentinel node procedures in patients with breast cancer. A total of 791 breast cancer patients underwent sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy at our institution between July 1997 and February 2005. A 2-day protocol was used to localise the sentinel node with the injection of 99mTc-nanocolloid.

Use of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor during acute myocardial infarction to enhance bone marrow stem cell mobilization in humans: clinical and angiographic safety profile.

Aims: There is increasing evidence that stem cell (SC) mobilization to the heart and their differentiation into cardiac cells is a naturally occurring process. We sought to assess the safety and feasibility of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) administration in humans to enhance SC mobilization and left ventricle (LV) injury repair during myocardial infarction (MI).

Methods And Results: Twenty patients with STEMI (mean age, 61+/-10 years), of whom 14 were submitted to primary percutaneous coronary intervention, were randomized to G-CSF (5 microg/kg/day s.

Scintigraphy in rheumatic diseases.

The aim of this review is to summarise the clinical role of nuclear medicine in rheumatology taking into consideration the most specific diagnostic applications and other worthwhile therapeutic contributions. Traditional bone scintigraphy and recent inflammation-targeting radiopharmaceuticals, such as radiolabelled leucocytes and immunoscintigraphy, now allow us to obtain highly sensitive total-body and tomographical imaging information that can be used for the diagnosis of osteoarticular disease. The most common extra-articular manifestations of rheumatic diseases due to digestive, central nervous, respiratory and cardiovascular system involvement can be diagnosed by specific scintigraphic methods.

Sentinel lymph node analysis in squamous carcinoma of the oral cavity and oropharynx.

Aims: The aim of our study was to evaluate the usefulness and applicability of sentinel lymph node (SLN) identification in N0 carcinomas of the oral cavity and oropharynx.

Study Design: We carried out a prospective evaluation of SLN identification in 20 patients with oral cavity or oropharynx carcinomas with no clinical evidence of lymph node metastases.

Methods: Peritumoral infiltration with technetium-99-labeled nanocolloid followed by lymphoscintigraphy was carried out approximately 18 hours prior to surgery.

Sentinel node biopsy in the evaluation of the internal mammary node chain in patients with breast cancer.

Aims And Background: In patients with breast cancer the presence of internal mammary chain (IMC) metastases changes tumor staging, and the occurrence of IMC drainage is quite common in breast cancer. Nevertheless, IMC dissection is not a routine procedure in modern surgical approaches towards breast cancer. We therefore need minimally invasive techniques for accurate assessment of the IMC nodal basin.

Prognostic and therapeutic impact of sentinel node micrometastasis in patients with invasive breast cancer.

Aims And Background: Locoregional lymph node status is one of the most important prognostic factors determining the need for adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer. Many authors have reported that micrometastases were not detected by routine sectioning of lymph nodes but were identified by multiple sectioning and additional staining. Among lymph node-negative patients 15-20% had an unfavorable outcome at five years from primary surgery.

Reliability and accuracy of sentinel node biopsy in cutaneous malignant melanoma.

Aims And Background: The aims of this study were 1) to investigate whether sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy could become the method of choice for the early detection of metastatic disease in patients with malignant melanoma and 2) to identify those patients with lymph node metastases who could benefit from regional lymphadenectomy.

Methods And Study Design: Our study started in March 1998 and involved 110 patients with primary cutaneous malignant melanoma stage I or II (AJCC) in whom the primary lesion had been surgically removed no more than 90 days previously. On the day of lymph node dissection patients were given an intradermal injection of colloid particles of human serum albumin labeled with technetium-99m and an injection of isosulfan blue.

[Malignancy: treatment and prognosis of gastrointestinal and pancreatic endocrine neoplasia: retrospective study of a series of 16 cases].

The aim of this study was to review our experience with endocrine tumours of the gastrointestinal tract and pancreas (ETGIP). Between February 1991 and March 2000, sixteen patients with ETGIP were operated on at our institution. Of these patients we reviewed preoperative symptoms, diagnostic techniques (ultrasound, CT, MRI, radiolabelled octreotide scintigraphy, angiography, immunohistochemical study), treatment (surgical operation, neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy, and radiometabolic therapy) and survival.