Staging of prostate Cancer with ultra-fast PSMA-PET scans enhanced by AI.

Purpose: PSMA-PET is a reference standard examination for patients with prostate cancer, but even using recently introduced digital PET detectors image acquisition with standard field-of-view scanners is still in the range of 20 min. This may cause limited access to examination slots because of the growing demand for PSMA-PET. Ultra-fast PSMA-PET may enhance throughput but comes at the cost of poor image quality.

Performance and Interpretation of Lung Scintigraphy: An Evaluation of Current Practices in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and United States.

Purpose: Although ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) scintigraphy is a widely used imaging test, different options are possible for the acquisition and interpretation of the scan. The aim of this study was to assess current practices regarding the use and interpretation of lung scintigraphy in various clinical indications.

Patients And Methods: An online survey comprising 25 questions was sent to nuclear medicine departments in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and United States between 2022 and 2023.

Screening for Occult Transthyretin Amyloidosis in Patients with Severe Aortic Stenosis and Amyloid Red Flags.

Aims: The optimal strategy to identify transthyretin-type cardiac amyloidosis (ATTR-CA) in patients with aortic stenosis (AS) is still unclear. This study aimed to investigate if targeted screening for ATTR-CA in patients with severe AS and amyloid red flags is associated with higher detection rates.

Methods: The study prospectively enrolled patients ≥65 years with severe AS.

Delayed Ga-FAPI-46 PET/MR imaging confirms ongoing fibroblast activation in patients after acute myocardial infarction.

Purpose Of The Report: Combined cardiac Ga-Fibroblast-Activation Protein-alpha inhibitor (FAPI) positron-emission tomography (PET) and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) constitute a novel diagnostic tool in patients for the assessment of myocardial damage after an acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate simultaneous Ga-68-FAPI-46-PET/MR imaging in the delayed phase after AMI.

Material And Methods: Eleven patients underwent hybrid Ga-FAPI-46 PET/MRI post AMI.

A systematic review for the evidence of recommendations and guidelines in hybrid nuclear cardiovascular imaging.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the level of evidence of expert recommendations and guidelines for clinical indications and procedurals in hybrid nuclear cardiovascular imaging.

Methods: From inception to August 2023, a PubMed literature analysis of the latest version of guidelines for clinical hybrid cardiovascular imaging techniques including SPECT(/CT), PET(/CT), and PET(/MRI) was performed in two categories: (1) for clinical indications for all-in primary diagnosis; subgroup in prognosis and therapy evaluation; and for (2) imaging procedurals. We surveyed to what degree these followed a standard methodology to collect the data and provide levels of evidence, and for which topic systematic review evidence was executed.

Changes in tumor-to-blood ratio as a prognostic marker for progression-free survival and overall survival in neuroendocrine tumor patients undergoing PRRT.

Background: Historically, patient selection for peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) has been performed by virtue of somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (SRS). In recent years, somatostatin receptor positron emission tomography (SSTR-PET) has gradually replaced SRS because of its improved diagnostic capacity, creating an unmet need for SSTR-PET-based selection criteria for PRRT. Tumor-to-blood ratio (TBR) measurements have shown high correlation with the net influx rate Ki, reflecting the tumor somatostatin receptor expression, to a higher degree than standardized uptake value (SUV) measurements.

Molecular Imaging Biomarkers in Cardiooncology: A View on Established Technologies and Future Perspectives.

Novel therapeutic options have significantly improved survival and long-term outcomes in many cancer entities. Unfortunately, this improvement in outcome is often accompanied by new and increasingly relevant therapy-related cardiovascular toxicity. In this context, cardiooncology has emerged as a new field of interdisciplinary individual patient care.

Quantification performance of silicon photomultiplier-based PET for small F-, Ga- and I-avid lesions in the context of radionuclide therapy planning.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate conditions for reliable quantification of sub-centimeter lesions with lowF,Ga, andI uptake using a silicon photomultiplier-based PET/CT system.

Methods: A small tumor phantom was investigated under challenging but clinically realistic conditions resembling prostate and thyroid cancer lymph node metastases (6 spheres with 3.7-9.

Value of [18F]FDG PET/CT in Diagnosis and Management of Spondylodiscitis.

Vertebral osteomyelitis is the third most common form of osteomyelitis in patients over 50 years of age.Whereas prompt (pathogen-directed) therapy is crucially associated with better outcomes, the heterogeneous clinical presentation of disease with unspecific symptoms often delays adequate treatment initiation. Diagnosis requires a careful investigation of medical history, clinical findings and diagnostic imaging, including magnetic resonance imaging and nuclear medicine techniques.

PET/CT-identified atrial hypermetabolism is an index of atrial inflammation in patients with atrial fibrillation.

Background: Although atrial inflammation has been implicated in the pathophysiology of atrial fibrillation (AF), the identification of atrial inflammation remains challenging. We aimed to establish a positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) protocol with Fluor-labeled fluorodeoxyglucose (F-FDG) for the detection of atrial hypermetabolism as surrogate for inflammation in AF.

Methods: We included n = 75 AF and n = 75 non-AF patients undergoing three common PET/CT protocols (n = 25 per group) optimized for the detection of (a) inflammation and (b) malignancy in predefined fasting protocols, and (c) cardiac viability allowing for maximized glucose uptake.

Demonstration of the Early Cardiac Bioavailability of a Non-Specific Cell-Targeted Peptide Using Radionuclide-Based Imaging In Vivo.

The cardiac bioavailability of peptide drugs that inhibit harmful intracellular protein-protein interactions in cardiovascular diseases remains a challenging task in drug development. This study investigates whether a non-specific cell-targeted peptide drug is available in a timely manner at its intended biological destination, the heart, using a combined stepwise nuclear molecular imaging approach. An octapeptide (heart8P) was covalently coupled with the trans-activator of transcription (TAT) protein transduction domain residues 48-59 of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (TAT-heart8P) for efficient internalization into mammalian cells.

Regression of Myocardial Tc-DPD Uptake After Tafamidis Treatment of Cardiac Transthyretin Amyloidosis.

Cardiac transthyretin amyloidosis is an infiltrative cardiomyopathy with high mortality. To date, there are no specific biomarkers to directly assess disease activity and response to specific treatments. Our aim was to evaluate scintigraphic changes after treatment with the transthyretin stabilizer tafamidis.

Preclinical Imaging of Cardiovascular Disesase.

Noninvasive imaging techniques, such as SPECT, PET, CT, echocardiography, or MRI, have become essential in cardiovascular research. They allow for the evaluation of biological processes in vivo without the need for invasive procedures. Nuclear imaging methods, such as SPECT and PET, offer numerous advantages, including high sensitivity, reliable quantification, and the potential for serial imaging.

Myocardial Perfusion SPECT and ATTR imaging 2021 in Germany: Results of the 9th Survey.

Aim: This paper presents the results of the 9th survey of myocardial perfusion SPECT (MPS) from the reporting year 2021.

Methods: 218 questionnaires (131 practices (PR), 58 hospitals (HO), 29 university hospitals (UH)) were evaluated. Results of the last survey 2018 are set in squared brackets.

Ga-FAPI PET/CT Interobserver Agreement on Tumor Assessment: An International Multicenter Prospective Study.

Ga-fibroblast activation protein inhibitors (FAPIs) are promising radiotracers for cancer imaging, with emerging data in the recent years. Nonetheless, the interobserver agreement on Ga-FAPI PET/CT study interpretations in cancer patients remains poorly understood. Ga-FAPI PET/CT was performed on 50 patients with various tumor entities (sarcoma [ = 10], colorectal cancer [ = 10], pancreatic adenocarcinoma [ = 10], genitourinary cancer [ = 10], and other types of cancer [ = 10]).

Value of [18F]FDG PET/CT in diagnosis and management of spondylodiscitis.

Vertebral osteomyelitis is the third most common form of osteomyelitis in patients over 50 years of age.Whereas prompt (pathogen-directed) therapy is crucially associated with better outcomes, the heterogeneous clinical presentation of disease with unspecific symptoms often delays adequate treatment initiation. Diagnosis requires a careful investigation of medical history, clinical findings and diagnostic imaging, including magnetic resonance imaging and nuclear medicine techniques.

Diagnostic significance of MRI versus CT using identical PET data in patients with recurrent differentiated thyroid cancer: A PET/MRI study.

In this retrospective study we compared magnet resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) each combined with identical 2-deoxy-2-[18F] fluoro-D-glucose or 2-[18F] F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) data in patients with recurrent differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). In total 42 patients with DTC were examined. All patients underwent FDG PET/MRI and CT, the latter originating from one of the following examinations: I-131 single photon emission computed tomography/CT (32/42), low dose FDG PET/CT (5/42) or diagnostic FDG PET/CT (5/42).

Corneal confocal microscopy identifies corneal nerve loss and increased Langerhans cells in presymptomatic carriers and patients with hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis.

Background: Hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTRv amyloidosis) is a rare, but life-threatening protein misfolding disorder due to TTR gene mutations. Cardiomyopathy (ATTRv-CM) and polyneuropathy (ATTRv-PN) with early small nerve fibre involvement are the most common manifestations. Timely diagnosis and treatment initiation are key to limiting progression of disease.