[Cardiac pool scintigraphy using the solid-state Digirad 2020tc Imager--comparison with the conventional anger-type gamma camera using moving cardiac phantom].

Unlabelled: Movable gamma camera, 2020tc Imager, was light miniaturized using Si photodiode as a semiconductor sensor instead of photomultiplier tubes. To validate performance of this new camera in cardiac pool scintigraphy, multigated equilibrium radionuclide ventriculography using the moving cardiac phantom was performed with 2020tc Imager and a conventional Agner-type gamma camera (PRISM 3000).

Method: Both measured cardiac functional values were compared with the set-up ones for the phantom.

[Assessment of biventricular function using gated blood pool SPECT with QBS software: comparison with planar radionuclide ventriculography].

Unlabelled: Quantitative blood pool SPECT (QBS) is a new application for the quantitative assessment of biventricular function from gated blood pool SPECT (TMUGA). In this study, we compared biventricular function between planar radionuclide ventriculography and TMUGA. The reproducibility of measuring biventricular ejection fraction with QBS was also evaluated.

Serial assessment of left ventricular performance at rest and during bicycle exercise by ECG-gated myocardial perfusion SPECT.

Unlabelled: The present study evaluates left ventricular performance during exercise by ECG-gated myocardial perfusion SPECT with short-time data collection.

Methods: The study population consisted of 10 healthy volunteers (Group N) and 9 patients with ischemic heart disease (Group I). Seven patients in Group I had a history of prior myocardial infarction.

Assessment of myocardial washout of Tc-99m-sestamibi in patients with chronic heart failure: comparison with normal control.

Background: In contrast to 201TlCl, 99mTc-sestamibi shows very slow myocardial clearance after its initial myocardial uptake. In the present study, myocardial washout of 99mTc-sestamibi was calculated in patients with non-ischemic chronic heart failure (CHF) and compared with biventricular parameters obtained from first-pass and ECG-gated myocardial perfusion SPECT data.

Methods And Results: After administration of 99mTc-sestamibi, 25 patients with CHF and 8 normal controls (NC) were examined by ECG-gated myocardial perfusion SPECT and planar data acquisition in the early and delayed (interval of 3 hours) phase.

[Clinical application of left ventricular volume and ejection fraction derived from gated SPECT data].

Left ventricular (LV) volume and ejection fraction (LVEF) derived from ECG-gated myocardial SPECT data are reproducible and objective. Those quantitative values, however, interacted according to varied factors such as a frame number per R-R interval, tracers, and processing-algorisms. A decrease of frame number per R-R interval yields underestimation of end-diastolic volume and overestimation of end-systolic volume, resulting in underestimation of LVEF.

[Multi-center study for the evaluation of clinical usefulness of attenuation and scatter correction on 201Tl myocardial SPECT].

The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical usefulness of attenuation and scatter correction (AC, SC) on a 201Tl myocardial single-photon emission computed tomography (201Tl SPECT) as a multi-center trial. With a dual-detecter and a triple-detector SPECT systems with a 99mTc transmission source, simultaneous transmission/emission tomography (TCT/ECT) was performed on 38 patients with angiographically coronary heart disease (CHD) and 26 patients without evidence of CHD. Stress and delayed attenuation and scatter corrected images (SAC) and uncorrected images (NC) were reconstructed.

[Examination concerning dissociation of left ventricular volume calculation value based on difference of analytical algorithm and perfusion tracer in gated myocardial SPECT].

According to improvement of SPECT system, ECG-gated SPECT with 201TlCl have been applied to the left ventricular volumetry. In this study 24 patients without ischemia demonstrated by stress (99mTc-TF) and rest (201TlCl) dual-isotope ECG-gated myocardial SPECT were enrolled. To evaluate left ventricular volumetry using 201Tl ECG-gated SPECT data, the left ventricular end diastolic volumes (EDV) were compared between Quantitative Gated SPECT (QGS) and Emory Cardiac Toolbox (ECT) as well as between dual-isotopes based on the same ECG-gated data.

Trial of autotransplantation of cryopreserved thyroid tissue for postoperative hypothyroidism in patients with Graves' disease.

Background: Some patients with Graves' disease who select surgical therapy so they can discontinue antithyroid medication require lifelong levo-thyroxin (l-T4) replacement therapy because of irreversible postoperative hypothyroidism. The aim of this study was to enable the replacement of absent thyroid hormone through autotransplanted thyroid tissue that had been cryopreserved since the initial thyroid operation, and to release these patients from lifelong l-T4 administration.

Study Design: At the time of subtotal thyroidectomy for Graves' disease, the surgical specimen was partially cryopreserved at -196 degrees C until it was used for autotransplantation.

Assessment of left ventricular diastolic function with electrocardiography-gated myocardial perfusion SPECT: comparison with multigated equilibrium radionuclide angiography.

Background: Technetium-labeled myocardial perfusion tracers allow the simultaneous assessment of myocardial perfusion and left ventricular function by electrocardiography (ECG)-gated myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). This study evaluates left ventricular systolic and diastolic function by ECG-gated SPECT with the use of higher framing (32 frames per cardiac cycle) data acquisition.

Methods And Results: After receiving an injection of technetium 99m tetrofosmin, 48 patients with cardiac diseases were examined by ECG-gated myocardial perfusion SPECT with a 3-headed gamma camera.

Is technetium-99m-MIBI taken up by the normal pituitary gland? A comparison of normal pituitary glands and pituitary adenomas.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the behavioral uptake of a normal gland and a pituitary adenoma and to assess the ability to diagnose pituitary adenoma by means of technetium-99m-hexakis-2-methoxy-isobutyl-isonitrile (MIBI) single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT).

Methods: The study included 15 patients with pituitary adenomas (mean age = 44.0 years, range 19-63) and 15 control subjects (mean age = 50.

[Assessment of left ventricular function with the solid-state digirad 2020tc Imager].

Multigated equilibrium radionuclide ventriculography from best septal position (LAO view) was performed in 17 patients with cardiac disease with a single detector Anger-type gamma camera (GCA 602A, Toshiba), then immediately imaged with a solid-state, multi-crystal gamma camera (Digirad 2020tc Imager). Acquisition times were the same of 10 minutes. The solid-state gamma camera uses CsI(Tl) as the scintillation material and a Si photodiode.

Serial assessment of left ventricular function during dobutamine stress by means of electrocardiography-gated myocardial SPECT: combination with dual-isotope myocardial perfusion SPECT for detection of ischemic heart disease.

Background: Technetium-labeled myocardial perfusion tracers allow simultaneous assessment of myocardial perfusion and left ventricular function by electrocardiography (ECG)-gated myocardial single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). The purpose of this study was to evaluate left ventricular performance during dobutamine stress by means of ECG-gated myocardial perfusion SPECT with short-time data collection.

Methods And Results: After administration of Tc-99m sestamibi or tetrofosmin (600-740 MBq), 67 patients with ischemic heart disease, including 35 with prior myocardial infarction, were examined by ECG-gated myocardial perfusion SPECT at rest and during dobutamine stress (at dosages of 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20 microg/kg/min, with increments every 8 minutes).

Simultaneous assessment of Tc-99m-sestamibi and I-123-BMIPP myocardial distribution in patients with myocardial infarction: evaluation of left ventricular function with ECG-gated myocardial SPECT.

123I-labeled 15-(p-iodophenyl)-3R,S-methyl pentadecanoic acid (BMIPP) is a branched-chain free fatty acid that is used to evaluate various cardiac diseases. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between myocardial perfusion (99mTc-sestamibi) and BMIPP uptake, and to correlate perfusion and metabolic alterations with regional left ventricular dysfunction in patients with myocardial infarction (MI). ECG-gated dual-isotope myocardial SPECT was performed on 130 patients with MI with sestamibi (555 MBq) and BMIPP (148 MBq).

Comparison of Emory and Cedars-Sinai methods for assessment of left ventricular function from gated myocardial perfusion SPECT in patients with a small heart.

To evaluate the effect of left ventricular (LV) size on the calculation of LV function from gated myocardial SPECT with Emory and Cedars-Sinai programs, we performed 99mTc-tetrofosmin gated SPECT on 49 patients with ischemic heart disease. End-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV), and ejection fraction (EF) were semi-automatically calculated by each program. All patients underwent left ventriculography (LVG) within 3 months before and after the SPECT study.

A new method of functional scintiphotosplenoportography using technetium-99m-DTPA-galactosylated human serum albumin.

Background/aims: We investigated whether a new method for scintiphotosplenoportography using technetium-99m-DTPA-galactosylated human serum albumin could visualize the portal venous system and simultaneously assess hepatic function.

Methodology: Thirty-two patients underwent scintiphotosplenoportography, including 4 with metastatic tumor in an otherwise normal liver, 5 with chronic hepatitis, 9 with cirrhosis, and 14 with both hepatocellular carcinoma and cirrhosis. The tracer (3 mg, 185 MBq) was injected into the spleen under ultrasonic guidance.

[Quantitative evaluation for scatter and attenuation correction in 99mTc SPECT--multicenter cooperation phantom study].

A multicenter cooperation phantom study was conducted to evaluate the accuracy of a triple energy window scatter correction technique in combination with various attenuation correction methods for 99mTc single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging. Six centers participated in this research and the data obtained with seven SPECT instruments were analyzed. The phantom used in the experiment was a 20 x 10 cm cylinder filled with homogeneous 99mTc solution, containing two kinds of cold spots (cold rod phantoms).

[Assessment of left ventricular contraction abnormalities with myocardial infarction using gated technetium-99m sestamibi SPECT: comparison of wall thickening and regional ejection fraction analysis for the detection of coronary artery stenosis].

ECG-gated myocardial Technetium-99m sestamibi SPECT is a useful technique to measure myocardial perfusion and function simultaneously. In this study, wall thickening (WT) and regional ejection fraction (rEF) using ECG-gated SPECT have been studied to determine which parameter would be more sensitive to detect coronary artery stenosis in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Forty-five patients (36 men, 9 women, mean age 63 +/- 9 years old) with AMI were examined.

Loss of interhemispheric connectivity in patients with lacunar infarction reflected by diffusion-weighted MR imaging and single-photon emission CT.

Background And Purpose: Although decreased neuronal connectivity in white matter has been reported to be a key mechanism of vascular dementia, assessment of white matter changes by diffusion-weighted MR imaging in relation to measures of associative function has not been previously addressed. We evaluated the loss of interhemispheric neuronal connectivity in vascular dementia by measuring diffusional anisotropy of the corpus callosum and determining its relationship to the regional cortical activity as reflected by cortical perfusion.

Methods: Nine patients with multiple lacunar infarction and six healthy volunteers (25-35 years old) were examined.

Left ventricular function at rest and during bicycle exercise in normal subjects: assessment by ECG-gated myocardial perfusion SPET with 99Tcm-tetrofosmin.

99Tcm-labelled myocardial perfusion tracers allow simultaneous assessment of myocardial perfusion and left ventricular function using ECG-gated SPET. The aim of this study was to evaluate left ventricular performance during exercise by means of ECG-gated myocardial perfusion SPET. After the administration of 99Tcm-tetrofosmin (555-740 MBq), eight healthy volunteers aged 27-49 years underwent ECG-gated myocardial perfusion SPET at rest and during supine submaximal exercise (75 and 125 W), for 3 min each.

[Myocardial distribution of iodine-123-iodophenyl-9-methyl-pentadecanoic acid (9MPA) in patients with acute myocardial infarction: comparison with regional wall motion obtained from technetium-99m-sestamibi gated SPECT].

123I-iodophenyl-9-methyl-pentadecanoic acid (9MPA) is a modified long-chain (15 carbons) fatty acid with a methyl branch on its 9 carbon location. Myocardial SPECT images (two sets, 10 min each) were obtained starting 10 min (early phase) and 50 min (delay phase) after the injection of 160 MBq 123I-9MPA at rest in 10 patients with acute myocardial infarction. The segmental myocardial uptake (% uptake) and clearance (% washout) from early to delay image were calculated by the SPECT data.

Crossed cerebellar diaschisis: the role of motor and premotor areas in functional connections.

The authors assessed the relationship between crossed cerebellar diaschisis (CCD) and cortico-pontine cerebellar pathway (CPCP) damage in 29 chronic supratentorial infarct patients to elucidate the role of motor and premotor areas for functional cerebro-cerebellar connections. The CCD rate was calculated from side-to-side cerebellar count differences on 123I-IMP single-photon emission computerized tomography images. Neuronal damage was estimated by the three scores of computed tomography density from equal to normal brain tissue (score 0) to equal to cerebrospinal fluid (score 2) in the 4 major regions on CPCP; frontal association, motor and premotor, sensory and parietal associations, and the posterior limb of the internal capsule.

The discrepancy between 99Tcm-ECD dynamic and static SPET images in patients with ischaemic lesions corresponds to reduced vasoreactivity to acetazolamide.

We evaluated 99Tcm-N,N'-(1,2-ethylenediyl)bis-L-cysteine diethyl ester (99Tcm-ECD) dynamic and static SPET (single photon emission tomographic) images to examine 99Tcm-ECD kinetics under ischaemic cerebrovascular conditions. In 20 patients who showed arterial occlusion on magnetic resonance angiography, dynamic (0-10 min) and static (15-35 min) SPET images were acquired after the intravenous administration of 99Tcm-ECD. Thirteen of the patients had focal perfusion deficits that were more evident on the dynamic than on the static images; the other seven showed no such discrepancy.

[99mTc-tetrofosmin exercise leg perfusion scintigraphy in arteriosclerosis obliterans (ASO)--assessment of leg ischemia using two phase data acquisition].

Twenty-one patients with arteriosclerosis obliterans (ASO) were studied with 99mTc-tetrofosmin exercise leg perfusion scintigraphy using the delayed administration method. In this method, tracer was injected 4 minutes after termination of symptom-limited repetitive climbing of a stair to validate prolonged vasodilatation in an ischemic lower limb after exercise. Visual and quantitative analyses were performed to evaluate a diseased leg using dynamic and static images.