Structural and Molecular Imaging of Aging Brain: A Focus on MR Imaging and PET Modalities.

The process of aging in the brain is reflective of various factors including the environment, lifestyle, genetics, and management of concurrent chronic conditions. Aging in the brain leads to observable structural changes on neuroimaging, such as brain volume reduction, neuronal atrophy, and synaptic loss, which affect higher cognitive functions. Positron emission tomography imaging can help visualize these changes earlier before structural changes even take place and the associated decline in brain function, revealing important insights into how the brain ages and the impact on neural connectivity and cognitive abilities.

Brain Abscess Causes Brain Damage With Long-Lasting Focal Cerebral Hypoactivity that Correlates With Abscess Size: A Cross-Sectional 18F-Fluoro-Deoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography Study.

Background And Objectives: Bacterial brain abscesses may have long-term clinical consequences, eg, mental fatigue or epilepsy, but long-term structural consequences to the brain remain underexplored. We asked if brain abscesses damage brain activity long term, if the extent of such damage depends on the size of the abscess, and if the abscess capsule, which is often left in place during neurosurgery, remains a site of inflammation, which could explain long-lasting symptoms in patients with brain abscess.

Methods: 2-[18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT), electroencephalography, and MRI were performed 2 days to 9 years after neurosurgery for bacterial brain abscess.

A Brief History and the Use of PET in the Diagnosis and Management of Schizophrenia: An Educational Review.

This article explores the role of PET in the diagnosis and treatment of schizophrenia. PET imaging can reveal neurobiologic aspects such as cerebral blood flow, glucose metabolism, receptor function, and neuroinflammation in schizophrenia. It has supported the dopaminergic hypothesis and helped distinguish symptom types and severity.

Eighteen-Months Safety and Efficacy Following Intraperitoneal Treatment With Radium-Labeled Microparticles After CRS-HIPEC in Patients With Peritoneal Metastasis From Colorectal Cancer.

Background And Objectives: Peritoneal metastasis from colorectal cancer carries a high risk for relapse after cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS-HIPEC). A novel alpha-emitting radiopharmaceutical (Radspherin) has been designed to deliver short-range radiation to micrometastases and free-floating tumor cells.

Methods: A Phase 1/2a study evaluated the safety, tolerability, and signal of efficacy of escalating doses of Radspherin injected intraperitoneally after CRS-HIPEC.

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) in presurgical planning of anterior temporal lobectomy: A systematic review of efficacy and limitations.

Introduction: Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), a debilitating neurological disorder, necessitates refined diagnostic and treatment strategies. This comprehensive review appraises the potential of positron emission tomography (PET) in enhancing the presurgical planning of Anterior Temporal Lobectomy (ATL) for patients afflicted with TLE.

Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted using the PubMed, SCOPUS, and ScienceDirect databases from 1985 to 2022, following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines for studies investigating PET and ATL.

Comprehensive considerations for dermatologists: the application of FDG-PET in evaluating cutaneous lesions in pediatric Langerhans cell histiocytosis.

Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a complex disorder characterized by the clonal proliferation of Langerhans cells, primarily affecting children and adolescents. This condition exhibits a wide spectrum of clinical presentations, necessitating a multidisciplinary approach for diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up. Cutaneous manifestations of LCH are significant, mimicking common dermatoses and posing diagnostic challenges.

FDG-PET in the diagnosis of primary progressive aphasia: a systematic review.

Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a disease known to affect the frontal and temporal regions of the left hemisphere. PPA is often an indication of future development of dementia, specifically semantic dementia (SD) for frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and logopenic progressive aphasia (LPA) as an atypical presentation of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The purpose of this review is to clarify the value of 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) in the detection and diagnosis of PPA.

PET Imaging in Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Trafficking.

The evolving field of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, though promising, necessitates more comprehensive imaging methods to enhance therapeutic effectiveness and track cell trafficking in patients and ex vivo. This review examines the application of PET imaging in CAR T-cell trafficking and optimizing their therapeutic impact. The application of PET imaging using various radiotracers is promising in providing evaluation of CAR T-cell interaction within the host, thereby facilitating strategies for improved patient outcomes.

Central nervous system manifestations following vaccination against COVID-19.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination has become the most effective countermeasure in the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. However, vaccination is associated with side effects. This narrative review focuses on central nervous system (CNS) manifestations following COVID-19 vaccination and provides a summary of the potential underlying mechanisms and methods of diagnosis and management of the vaccination-related CNS manifestations.

[F]FDG PET/CT for identifying the causes of fever of unknown origin (FUO).

Fever of unknown origin (FUO) continues to be a challenging diagnosis in clinical medicine. It has more than 200 known causes, including infections, autoimmune diseases, neoplasia, and other miscellaneous disorders. Despite the development of a wide range of diagnostic tools, a specific diagnostic algorithm for FUO is not yet available.

The utility of PET imaging in depression.

This educational review article aims to discuss growing evidence from PET studies in the diagnosis and treatment of depression. PET has been used in depression to explore the neurotransmitters involved, the alterations in neuroreceptors, non-neuroreceptor targets (e.g.

Role of PET/CT in diagnosing and monitoring disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis: a review.

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a systemic inflammatory disorder that commonly presents with polyarthritis but can have multisystemic involvement and complications, leading to increased morbidity and mortality. The diagnosis of RA continues to be challenging due to its varied clinical presentations. In this review article, we aim to determine the potential of PET/CT to assist in the diagnosis of RA and its complications, evaluate the therapeutic response to treatment, and predict RA remission.

Revision of Alzheimer's diagnostic criteria or relocation of the Potemkin village.

The recently announced revision of the Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnostic ATN classification adds to an already existing disregard for clinical assessment the rejection of image-based in vivo assessment of the brain's condition. The revision suggests that the diagnosis of AD should be based solely on the presence of cerebral amyloid-beta and tau, indicated by the "A" and "T". The "N", which stands for neurodegeneration - detected by imaging - should no longer be given importance, except that A+ ± T + = AD with amyloid PET being the main method for demonstrating A+ .

Comparative assessment of radiation therapy-induced vasculitis using [F]FDG-PET/CT in patients with non-small cell lung cancer treated with proton versus photon radiotherapy.

Purpose: To assess radiation therapy (RT)-induced vasculitis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by examining changes in the uptake of F-fluoro-D-deoxyglucose ([F]FDG) by positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) images of the ascending aorta (AA), descending aorta (DA), and aortic arch (AoA) before and after proton and photon RT.

Method: Thirty-five consecutive locally advanced NSCLC patients were definitively treated with proton (n = 27) or photon (n = 8) RT and concurrent chemotherapy. The patients were prospectively enrolled to undergo [F]FDG-PET/CT imaging before and 3 months after RT.

Bacterial Brain Abscesses Expand Despite Effective Antibiotic Treatment: A Process Powered by Osmosis Due to Neutrophil Cell Death.

Background And Objectives: A bacterial brain abscess is an emergency and should be drained of pus within 24 hours of diagnosis, as recently recommended. In this cross-sectional study, we investigated whether delaying pus drainage entails brain abscess expansion and what the underlying mechanism might be.

Methods: Repeated brain MRI of 47 patients who did not undergo immediate pus drainage, pus osmolarity measurements, immunocytochemistry, proteomics, and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography.

Novel ensemble feature selection techniques applied to high-grade gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms for the prediction of survival.

Background And Objective: Determining the most informative features for predicting the overall survival of patients diagnosed with high-grade gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms is crucial to improve individual treatment plans for patients, as well as the biological understanding of the disease. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the use of modern ensemble feature selection techniques for this purpose with respect to (a) quantitative performance measures such as predictive performance, (b) clinical interpretability, and (c) the effect of integrating prior expert knowledge.

Methods: The Repeated Elastic Net Technique for Feature Selection (RENT) and the User-Guided Bayesian Framework for Feature Selection (UBayFS) are recently developed ensemble feature selectors investigated in this work.

Aging and Cerebral Glucose Metabolism: F-FDG-PET/CT Reveals Distinct Global and Regional Metabolic Changes in Healthy Patients.

Alterations in cerebral glucose metabolism can be indicative of both normal and pathological aging processes. In this retrospective study, we evaluated global and regional neurological glucose metabolism in 73 healthy individuals (mean age: 35.8 ± 13.

Utility of a simplified [F] sodium fluoride PET imaging method to quantify bone metabolic flux for a wide range of clinical applications.

We review the rationale, methodology, and clinical utility of quantitative [F] sodium fluoride ([F]NaF) positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) imaging to measure bone metabolic flux (K, also known as bone plasma clearance), a measurement indicative of the local rate of bone formation at the chosen region of interest. We review the bone remodelling cycle and explain what aspects of bone remodelling are addressed by [F]NaF PET-CT. We explain how the technique works, what measurements are involved, and what makes [F]NaF PET-CT a useful tool for the study of bone remodelling.

The Role of FDG-PET in the Evaluation of Hidradenitis Suppurativa: A Systematic Review.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic skin disorder characterized by nodules, comedones, and sinus tracts that often leave prominent scarring. In recent years, non-invasive imaging techniques have been used to assess the inflammatory activity, vascularization, and treatment response of lesions. Specifically, fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) scans may aid in identifying systemic inflammation in patients with HS, improving diagnosis.

Imaging of Pb in mice with a clinical SPECT/CT.

Introduction: Pb is a promising radionuclide for targeted alpha therapy. Here, the feasibility of visualising the tumour uptake and biodistribution of Pb-NG001 in mice with a clinical SPECT/CT scanner was investigated.

Methods: A mouse phantom with Pb was imaged with a clinical- and a preclinical SPECT/CT scanner.

Intensifying treatment in PET-positive multiple myeloma patients after upfront autologous stem cell transplantation.

F-Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET) positivity after first-line treatment with autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in multiple myeloma is strongly correlated with reduced progression-free and overall survival. However, PET-positive patients who achieve PET negativity after treatment seem to have comparable outcomes to patients who were PET negative at diagnosis. Hence, giving PET-positive patients additional treatment may improve their outcome.

Neurological and Psychiatric Manifestations of Long COVID-19 and Their [F]FDG PET Findings: A Review.

For more than two years, lingering sequalae of COVID-19 have been extensively investigated. Approximately 10% of individuals infected by COVID-19 have been found to experience long-term symptoms termed "long COVID-19". The neurological and psychiatric manifestations of long COVID-19 are of particular concern.