Patients with non-[18 F]fludeoxyglucose-avid advanced hepatocellular carcinoma on clinical staging may achieve long-term recurrence-free survival after liver transplantation.

There is increasing evidence that a relevant number of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) exceeding the Milan criteria may benefit from liver transplantation (LT). We retrospectively analyzed the prognostic significance of [(18) F]fludeoxyglucose ([(18) F]FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) for identifying appropriate LT candidates with advanced HCC on clinical staging. Between 1995 and 2008, 111 patients with HCC were listed for LT.

Recurrence-free long-term survival after liver transplantation in patients with 18F-FDG non-avid hilar cholangiocarcinoma on PET.

The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the value of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography ((18)F-FDG-PET) for predicting biological tumor behavior and outcome after liver transplantation (LT) in patients with otherwise unresectable hilar cholangiocarcinoma (HC). Preoperative (18)F-FDG-PET scanning was performed in 13 patients with type IV Klatskin tumor before LT. PET+ status indicated patients with an increased pretransplant (18)F-FDG uptake, whereas PET- recipients had no increased preoperative (18)F-FDG uptake on PET.

Increased 18F-FDG uptake of hepatocellular carcinoma on positron emission tomography independently predicts tumor recurrence in liver transplant patients.

The aim of this retrospective trial was to analyze the value of preoperative (18)F-fluoro-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography ((18)F-FDG PET) to predict parameters of tumor aggressiveness among liver transplant (OLT) patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Fifty-five patients with HCC underwent (18)F-FDG-PET during evaluation for OLT. Nineteen patients demonstrated increased (18)F-FDG uptake on PET pre-OLT (PET(+)), and 36 patients revealed negative PET findings (PET(-)).

18F-FDG-uptake of hepatocellular carcinoma on PET predicts microvascular tumor invasion in liver transplant patients.

Vascular invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major risk factor for poor outcome after liver transplantation (LT). The aim of this retrospective analysis was to assess the value of preoperative positron emission tomography (PET) using (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) in liver transplant candidates with HCC for predicting microvascular tumor invasion (MVI) and posttransplant tumor recurrence. Forty-two patients underwent LT for HCC after PET evaluation.

Treatment with granulocyte-colony stimulating factor in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Evidence for a stimulation of neovascularization and improvement of myocardial perfusion.

Background: Stem cell therapy has been suggested to be beneficial in patients after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Strategies of treatment are either a local application of mononuclear bone marrow cells (BMCs) into the infarct-related artery or a systemic therapy with the granulocyte-stimulating factor (G-CSF) to mobilize BMCs. Nevertheless, the mechanisms responsible for improvement of cardiac function and perfusion are speculative at present.

Treatment with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor for mobilization of bone marrow cells in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

Background: This study was undertaken to evaluate the hypothesis that treatment with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) to mobilize bone marrow cells (BMCs) is feasible and safe and promotes neovascularization and myocardial function in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

Methods: Fourteen patients in the treatment group and 9 patients in the control group were enrolled in this prospective, nonrandomized, open-label study. Forty-eight hours after successful recanalization and stent implantation, the patients of the treatment group received 10 microg/kg body weight per day G-CSF subcutaneously for mean treatment duration of 7.

Comparison of whole-body STIR-MRI and 99mTc-methylene-diphosphonate scintigraphy in children with suspected multifocal bone lesions.

The study was performed to compare whole-body short time inversion recovery (STIR) MR imaging and (99m)Tc-methylene diphosphonate planar scintigraphy in the examination of children with suspected multifocal skeletal malignant lesions. Sixteen patients with known or suspected malignant skeletal disease underwent both whole-body STIR MR imaging and bone scintigraphy. The lesions were described and numbered according to scintigraphic evaluation criteria.

[Mobilization of stem cells by granulocyte colony-stimulating factor for the regeneration of myocardial tissue after myocardial infarction].

Background And Objective: Animal data suggest that mobilized bone marrow cells (BMC) may contribute to tissue regeneration after myocardial infarction (MI). However the safety, feasibility and efficacy of treatment with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) to mobilize BMC after acute myocardial infarction in patients is unknown. We analysed cardiac function and perfusion in 5 patients who were treated with G-CSF in addition to standard therapeutical regimen.

Impact of positron emission tomography on strategy in liver resection for primary and secondary liver tumors.

Purpose: Outcome of patients with metastatic disease mainly depends on accurate preoperative tumor staging. 18[F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-PET) has been proven to be a valuable diagnostic tool in a number of different tumors but its direct influence on liver surgery has not been thoroughly investigated.

Materials And Methods: Between July 1999 and March 2000, 50 consecutive patients with 174 suspected liver lesions were admitted to the University Hospital Jena.

[The value of fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) in differentiation of pancreatic lesions].

Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) is a functional imaging modality that is based on the metabolic activity which is higher in most malignant tumors than benign tissues. This short review describes the basics of FDG-PET and gives a discussion of its role in differentiation of focal pancreatic lesions. The diagnostic accuracy in patients with active inflammation or cancer of the pancreas can be improved by dynamic acquisition of focal pancreatic lesions.

[Validity of iohexol clearance in patients with chronic renal failure and normal renal function in comparison to (99m)Tc-DTPA-clearance].

Background And Objective: The most common method used for testing dynamic renal function is creatinine clearance, but it has some limitations, e. g. variable muscle mass and tubular secretion of creatinine.

[Assessment of radiation exposure caused by transmission scans in SPECT: an anthropomorphic dosimetry study].

Transmission measurements are performed in SPECT to correct for attenuation of the gamma quanta in the body. In this study, we measured the additional radiation dose caused by transmission scans using a field of collimated 153Gd rod sources. Two measurement series were performed with an anthropomorphic phantom and thermoluminescence dosimeters.

[Assessment of radiation exposure caused by transmission scans in SPECT: an anthropomorphic dosimetry study].

Transmission measurements are performed in SPECT to correct for attenuation of the gamma quanta in the body. In this study, we measured the additional radiation dose caused by transmission scans using a field of collimated 153Gd rod sources. Two measurement series were performed with a anthropomorphic phantom and thermoluminescence dosimeters.

Serial positron emission tomographic findings in an atypical presentation of fatal familial insomnia.

Background: Genetic analyses of fatal familial insomnia, a prion disease, disclose a broader range of symptoms than previously described. Although insomnia and dysautonomia have been described as hallmarks of the disease, there is substantial variability in clinical presentation.

Objective: To evaluate serial fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomographic and electroencephalographic findings in atypical fatal familial insomnia without clinical insomnia.

Recovery of the cardiac adrenergic nervous system after long-term beta-blocker therapy in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy: assessment by increase in myocardial 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine uptake.

Unlabelled: In chronic heart failure, elevated plasma norepinephrine (NE) levels and a disparity between the neuronal release and the effective reuptake of NE lead to an increased concentration of NE in the presynaptic cleft, causing a downregulation of the myocardial beta-adrenoceptors. The clinical and prognostic effectiveness of beta-blocker therapy has been shown in patients with chronic heart failure in several large trials. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of long-term beta-blocker therapy on the cardiac adrenergic nervous system as assessed by the myocardial uptake of 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG), an analog of NE, in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC).

Cardiac sympathetic activity as measured by myocardial 123-I-metaiodobenzylguanidine uptake and heart rate variability in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.

In patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC) the increased sympathetic activity owing to chronic congestive heart failure leads to an imbalance of cardiac autonomic tone, as reflected by decreased heart rate variability (HRV). Iodine-123-metaiodobenzylguanidine (123-I-MIBG), which has the same affinity for sympathetic nerve endings as norepinephrine, can be used to assess the integrity and function of the cardiac sympathetic nervous system. The aim of the present study was to measure cardiac sympathetic activity by assessing 123-I-MIBG uptake compared with HRV in patients with IDC.

Radioimmunodetection of neuroblastoma cells with I-131-radiolabelled antibodies.

The murine anti-neuroblastoma monoclonal antibodies 15/7 and 19/1/4 should be tested for specific radiolocalization of neuroblastoma by immunoscintigraphic imaging of this tumour growing in mice. Radioiodination of both antibodies was done by chloramine-T method resulted in an immunoreactivity of 75%. The calculated specific activity varied from 51.

Induced hypertension as an approach to treating acute cerebrovascular ischaemia: possibilities and limitations.

As, after an stroke, the autoregulation of the cerebral vessels in the ischaemic region is disturbed to a high degree, it is, on principle, possible to improve the blood flow particularly in the zone surrounding the infarct (penumbra) by raising the systemic blood pressure. During a basic treatment with low-molecular dextrans (infukoll M40), 37 patients with an acute ischaemic cerebral stroke multiply underwent elevations in blood pressure up to systolic values of about 210 to 220 mmHg. A comparison with a control group (n = 44) who were treated with low-molecular dextrans revealed no differences in lethality on the 21st day after the stroke.

[High-frequency jet ventilation and the function of the right heart--an animal experimental study].

In a controlled study, 10 dogs with normal and severely damaged lungs were subjected to nuclide angiocardiographic investigations into the function of the right ventricle. The pulmonary injury was produced by infusion of oleic acid (OA) into the right atrium during controlled ventilation (IPPV). The angiocardiographic examinations were performed using 133Xenon in the first pass technique.

[Functional scintigraphic studies of perfusion and ventilation during high frequency jet ventilation (HFJV)].

In a controlled study, functional-scintigraphic investigations into perfusion and ventilation were performed on 10 dogs with non-damaged and extremely severely damaged lungs. The pulmonary damage was produced by injecting oleic acid (OA) into the right atrium of the heart under controlled ventilation (IPPV). The scintigraphic examinations were carried out using 133Xenon.

[The measurement of bronchial mucociliary clearance using 99mTc for evaluating the success of the salt water cure].

We found a highly significant improvement in the pulmonary mucociliary clearance in the peripheral region of the lungs four weeks after saline spring treatment. We examined the possibility of applying the saccharin sky-blue test for evaluating the success of spa treatment.

[The value of lung perfusion scintigraphy in radiation pneumonitis in comparison with the diffusing capacity DLCO].

The value of lung perfusion scintigraphy (Tc99m) and lung diffusing capacity are compared with references to early detection of radiogenic pneumonitis. Perfusion scintigraphy completed by diffusing capacity is excellent suitable for early detection. Risk cases are recognized up to 40 days earlier than by X-ray.

[Thyroid diseases in advanced age].

Nearly all diseases of the thyroid, such as nodular goitre, thyroid carcinoma, non-immunogenic hyperthyroidism and idiopathic hypothyroidism, exhibit an increase in frequency with age. Their recognition is rendered more difficult by the often oligosymptomatic, ambiguous clinical picture, but it is the timely treatment that is of particular prognostic importance to an organism weakened due to polymorbidity. In all hard nodular alterations, a malignoma must be ruled out by sonography, scintigraphy and cytopuncture.