Comparison of perfusion 18F-FP-CIT PET and 99mTc-ECD SPECT in parkinsonian disorders.

Early and accurate identification of various conditions that can cause parkinsonian symptoms is important for determining treatment policies. Currently dopamine transporter (DAT) imaging using FP-CIT, glucose metabolism imaging using fluorodeoxyglucose, cerebral blood flow image using ethyl cysteinate dimer (ECD), and others are used for differentiation. However, the use of multiple modalities is inconvenient and costly.

KSNM60 in Cardiology: Regrowth After a Long Pause.

The Korean Society of Nuclear Medicine (KSNM) is celebrating its 60th anniversary in honor of the nuclear medicine professionals who have dedicated their efforts towards research, academics, and the more comprehensive clinical applications and uses of nuclear imaging modalities. Nuclear cardiology in Korea was at its prime time in the 1990s, but its growth was interrupted by a long pause. Despite the academic and practical challenges, nuclear cardiology in Korea now meets the second leap, attributed to the growth in molecular imaging tailored for many non-coronary diseases and the genuine values of nuclear myocardial perfusion imaging.

Potential Clinical Applications of F-Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography/Magnetic Resonance Mammography in Breast Cancer.

The whole-body positron emission tomography (PET)/magnetic resonance (MR) scan is a cutting edge technology providing comprehensive structural information from MR imaging and functional features from PET in a single session. Recent research findings and clinical experience have shown that F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) whole-body PET/MR imaging has a diagnostic performance comparable with or superior to that of PET/CT in the field of oncology, including for breast cancer. In particular, FDG PET/MR mammography in the prone position with the breast hanging in a pendant manner can provide more comprehensive information about the metabolism, anatomy, and functional features of a breast lesion than a whole-body PET/MR scan.

Comparison of the Performances of (18)F-FP-CIT Brain PET/MR and Simultaneous PET/CT: a Preliminary Study.

Purpose: (18)F-FP-CIT [(18)F-fluorinated N-3-fluoropropyl-2-beta-carboxymethoxy-3-beta-(4-iodophenyl) nortropane] has been well established and used for the differential diagnosis of atypical parkinsonian disorders. Recently, combined positron emission tomography (PET)/magnetic resonance (MR) was proposed as a viable alternative to PET/computed tomography (CT). The aim of this study was to compare the performances of conventional (18)F-FP-CIT brain PET/CT and simultaneous PET/MR by visual inspection and quantitative analysis.

An Incidental Finding of Skull Hemangioma During 18F-FP CIT Brain PET/CT.

F-FP CIT has been well established and used for the differential diagnosis of atypical parkinsonian disorders, including idiopathic Parkinson disease. A 54-year-old woman with a history of left hand and leg tremor underwent F-FP CIT PET/CT for the differentiation of parkinsonism. The F-FP CIT PET/CT incidentally showed focal dopamine transporter uptake in the right frontal bone.

Clinical issues regarding misclassification by Dixon based PET/MR attenuation correction.

Objective: The Dixon sequence is acquired for attenuation correction (AC) of positron emission tomography (PET) data in integrated PET/magnetic resonance (MR). However it sometimes misclassifies soft tissue and fat in μ-map. In the present study, we investigated factors related to this misclassification and their clinical impacts.

Initial experience of integrated PET/MR mammography in patients with invasive ductal carcinoma.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of integrated fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance ((18)F-FDG PET/MR) mammography in invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) patients. From August 2012 to March 2013, we enrolled 42 consecutive breast cancer patients who received whole- body PET/MR and subsequent PET/MR mammography by an integrated PET/MR scanner and were scheduled for surgery within 2 weeks after the of scan. On the whole body PET/MR, 2-point Dixon VIBE, coronal T1w image, axial T2w image, and post-contrast T1 sequences were acquired with simultaneous PET acquisition.

The Impact of Energy Substrates, Hormone Level and Subject-Related Factors on Physiologic Myocardial (18)F-FDG Uptake in Normal Humans.

Purpose: In a whole-body (18)F-FDG PET/CT, non-specific (18)F-FDG uptake of the myocardium is a common finding and can be very variable, ranging from background activity to intense accumulation and inhomogeneity. We investigated the effect of energy substrates and plasma/serum hormones that may have an influence on myocardial (18)F-FDG uptake.

Methods: F-FDG PET/CT was performed on 100 normal volunteers from November 2007 to August 2008.

Myocardial Fibrosis in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Demonstrated by Integrated Cardiac F-18 FDG PET/MR.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a common condition defined as a diffuse or segmental left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy with a nondilated and hyperdynamic chamber as well as cardiac arrhythmias. Cardiac MR (CMR) imaging is a key modality for evaluation of HCM. In addition to the assessment of LV wall thickness, LV function and aortic flow, CMR is capable of estimation of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) in affected myocardium which has been shown to have a direct correlation with incidence and severity of arrhythmias in HCM.

Brain SPECT Analysis After Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy in Young Children with Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy: Case Report.

Constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) was shown recently to be promising for improving upper-limb function in children with cerebral palsy (CP). This study investigated the changes in cerebral perfusion with single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) after modified CIMT (child-friendly CIMT) in young hemiplegic girls. Two young children with left hemiplegic CP were studied with SPECT at rest before and after the CIMT period, and they also performed standardized upper motor function tests [Jebsen hand function test, quality of upper extremity skills test (QUEST), and dynamic electromyography (EMG)].

Prevalence of extracardiac findings in the evaluation of ischemic heart disease by multidetector computed tomography.

Objective: Multidector computed tomography (MDCT) is now commonly used for the evaluation of coronary artery disease. Because MDCT images include many non-cardiac organs and the patient population evaluated is highly susceptible to extracardiac diseases, this study was designed to evaluate the prevalence of extracardiac findings in the MDCT evaluation of ischemic heart disease.

Methods: From March 2007 to March 2008, a total of six-hundred twenty patients, who underwent 64-slice MDCT evaluations for chest pain, or dyspnea, were enrolled in this study.

Diagnostic Accuracy of 64-Slice MDCT Coronary Angiography for the Assessment of Coronary Artery Disease in Korean Patients with Type 2 Diabetes.

Background: A 64-slice multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) is well known to be a useful noninvasive form of angiography for the general population, but not for certain patients with diabetes. The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic accuracy and usefulness of 64-slice MDCT coronary angiography for detecting coronary artery disease in Korean patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Methods: A total of 240 patients were included, 74 of whom had type 2 diabetes (M:F=40:33; 41.

Clinical usefulness of combinatorial protocol with stress only myocardial perfusion SPECT, CTA and SPECT/CTA 3-dimensional fusion image.

Background: This study was designed to assess the value of a combinatorial protocol, namely, stress only myocardial perfusion SPECT (MPS), 64-slice coronary computed tomographic angiography (CTA), and SPECT/CTA 3-dimensional (3D) fusion imaging for the evaluation of coronary artery disease.

Methods: A total of 142 patients were retrospectively reviewed. All underwent stress only MPS and 64-slice CTA before invasive coronary angiography (ICA).

(18)F-FDG PET/CT in inflammatory pseudotumor of the colon causing intussusception.

Inflammatory pseudotumor is a rare benign lesion mimicking malignancy both clinically and radiologically. An accurate diagnosis is still difficult and is based on the histological examination. Since inflammatory pseudotumor is exceptionally rare in the colon, this unexpected lesion can be mistaken for malignancy.

Non-Specific Disease Mimicking Malignancy: Two Cases of FDG Uptake in the Extremities.

FDG PET is an imaging technique used to assess regional differences in glucose metabolism. A variety of diseases, including malignancy, can show abnormal FDG uptake in bone marrow. PET/CT demonstrated non-specific uptake in the extremities of two patients with fever of unknown origin (FUO).

Stent fracture and restenosis after zotarolimus-eluting stent implantation.

Stent fracture (SF) has been found in peripheral and coronary vasculatures, and in the latter mostly after implantation of sirolimus- or paclitaxel-eluting stents. We report a patient with a fractured stent associated with restenosis after zotarolimus-eluting stent (ZES) implantation which was confirmed by fluoroscopy, intravascular ultrasound and computerized tomography. To our knowledge, this is the first published report of SF after ZES implantation.

The clinical efficacy of (18)F-FDG-PET/CT in benign and malignant musculoskeletal tumors.

Objective: Most of the current clinical data on the role of 2-[(18)F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D -glucose positron emission tomography ((18)F-FDG-PET) in musculoskeletal tumors come from patients studied with PET and less frequently with hardware fusion PET/computed tomography (CT). And the number of cases in each report is too small to clarify the exact clinical efficacy of PET or PET/CT. This prompted us to analyze our experience with (18)F-FDG-PET/CT in a relatively large group of patients with musculoskeletal tumors.

Acute myocardial infarction as a consequence of stent fracture and plaque rupture after sirolimus-eluting stent implantation.

Stent fracture (SF) is emerging as one of the leading causes of late cardiac events after sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) implantation. A 44-year old man was admitted with ST-segment elevated myocardial infarction 22 months after treatment with SES. SF was confirmed by fluoroscopy, intravascular ultrasound study (IVUS) and computerized tomographic study.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy complicated by left ventricular apical necrosis and aneurysm in a young man: FDG-PET findings.

A 29-year old male was transferred to our hospital with an abnormal chest X-ray finding diagnosed as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with apical necrosis and aneurysm formation. Four years after the initial hospitalization, we confirmed the aneurysm and necrosis using both integrated positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) scanning. The F-18 2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) PET/CT enabled precise localization of the aneurysm, which was found to be composed of semi-lunar calcification of non-metabolic myocardium.

Upregulation of PBR mRNA expression in human neuroblastoma cells by flavonoids.

To investigate the putative mediation of peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR) in the cytotoxicity of flavonoids, in this study, modulatory effects of several flavonoids on the lipid peroxide (LPO) production and PBR mRNA expression of human neuroblastoma cells were observed. Elevated levels of peroxidated products in cancer cells may activate pro-apoptotic and anti-proliferative signaling pathways. Treatment of 10(-6) M 4'-chlorodiazepam and PK 11195 ligands of the PBR for 6 days enhanced the generation of LPO of the human neuroblastoma cells.

Apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with apical necrosis and aneurysm formation.

Apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, characterized by giant T-waves and spade-shaped left ventricular cavity is prevalent in Oriental people, particularly the Japanese. We report an asymptomatic case of apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy progressing to myocardial necrosis and aneurysm formation because of the chronic myocardial ischemia at the apex.