Surveillance imaging of Hodgkin lymphoma patients in first remission: a clinical and economic analysis.

Background: The majority of patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) achieve disease remission after primary therapy. To the best of the authors' knowledge, no consensus exists for postremission surveillance imaging.

Methods: Retrospectively analyzed were 192 adult patients with classic HL in first remission.

Comparison of standard-dose vs low-dose attenuation correction CT on image quality and positron emission tomographic attenuation correction.

Objective: To determine if low-dose attenuation correction computed tomography (CTAC) 1) provides images with acceptable anatomic definition and noise compared with standard-dose CTAC and 2) provides acceptable positron emission tomographic attenuation correction.

Methods: Positron emission tomography/computed tomography was performed on 78 patients. Forty-three patients underwent CTAC with tube current based on a standard weight-based scale.

Imaging features of sarcoidosis on MDCT, FDG PET, and PET/CT.

Objective: The objectives of this article are to discuss the epidemiology and natural history of sarcoidosis; to review the classic imaging features of sarcoidosis on radiography, CT, and 67Ga nuclear medicine scans; and to present clinical examples of sarcoidosis as seen on PET and PET/CT in the chest, abdomen and pelvis, and bones.

Conclusion: The imaging features of sarcoidosis are diverse and can be seen on a variety of imaging techniques. It is important for radiologists and nuclear medicine physicians to recognize the common imaging features and patterns of sarcoidosis in order to raise the possibility in the appropriate clinical setting.

Babesiosis: CT and hematologic findings.

Babesiosis is a tick-borne illness caused by the protozoan Babesia microti. Most patients are asymptomatic but the infection may produce a spectrum of symptoms in immunocomprimised patients, especially asplenic patients. These range from mild fever, sweats, fatigue, and myalgias to severe multiorgan failure, including acute respiratory distress syndrome and death.

Hybrid PET/CT of the thorax: when is computer registration necessary?

Objective: To determine if computer registration improves the image fusion of hybrid positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) data sets in the thorax acquired during different breathing maneuvers.

Methods: Hybrid PET/CT scans were acquired with varying CT respiratory instructions. The scans of 64 patients with 5 different breathing maneuvers were reviewed, including expiration, suspended breath hold, quiet breathing, small breath in, and regular breath in.

Cardiac septal aneurysm mimicking pseudomass: appearance on ECG-gated cardiac MRI and MDCT.

Objective: Cardiac septal aneurysms in adults are diagnosed when the interatrial or interventricular septal membrane deviates more than 10-15 mm to either side in the cardiac chamber. Routine non-ECG-gated chest CT does not have sufficient temporal and spatial resolution for adequate characterization of such an entity. We report the imaging findings of cardiac septal aneurysms depicted in two patients with ECG-gated cardiac MRI and in a third with ECG-gated cardiac 64-MDCT.

Does initial staging or tumor histology better identify asymptomatic brain metastases in patients with non-small cell lung cancer?

Background: To determine whether the distribution, staging features, or tumor histology of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) distinguishes neurologically symptomatic from asymptomatic patients initially diagnosed with lung cancer, and to determine whether these factors may predict the presence of brain metastasis.

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of 809 patients with NSCLC and brain metastases who were treated in our institution between January 1996 and March 2003. Patients who had brain metastasis on initial staging were included.

FDG-PET and CT features of non-small cell lung cancer based on tumor type.

We determined if specific tumor types of non-small cell lung cancer can be identified by variance in FDG-PET standard uptake value (SUV) in combination with characteristics on CT. Staging FDG-PET and CT scans of 81 patients (34 men and 47 women, average age 67+/-11 years) with 82 lung cancers were analyzed. Mean tumor SUV was calculated at the location of maximum FDG uptake.

Optimal CT breathing protocol for combined thoracic PET/CT.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the optimal breathing protocol for combined PET/CT scans of the thorax.

Subjects And Methods: Eighty combined PET/CT scans were obtained in 64 patients (30 women, 34 men; mean age, 57 years; range, 19-86 years). The 80 PET/CT scans consisted of five group of patients (16 PET/CT scans per group) who underwent whole-body combined 18F-FDG PET/CT with different CT breathing protocols: expiration, mid suspended breath-hold, quiet breathing, small breath in, and regular breath in.

Significance of incidental thyroid lesions detected on CT: correlation among CT, sonography, and pathology.

Objective: The purpose of our study was to determine the prevalence of malignancy in incidental abnormalities of the thyroid gland detected on CT and to determine the relative accuracy of characterizing these abnormalities on CT as compared with sonography and pathology.

Materials And Methods: We searched our department's computerized clinical database for all thoracic and cervical CT scans in which a new abnormality was incidentally identified in the thyroid gland from 1998-2001. Two hundred thirty patients with abnormal findings in the gland on CT subsequently underwent thyroid sonography, and 118 of the 230 patients underwent a diagnostic biopsy or resection.

"Hot" spots in hybrid positron emission tomography/computed tomography scanning of the abdomen: protocols, indications, interpretation, responsibilities, and reimbursements.

Although introduction of hybrid positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scanners represents an important development in field of radiology, the alliance of functional imaging with structural imaging has raised many controversial issues. The present review describes some of the important issues in hybrid PET/CT such as specific indications, protocols that deliver diagnostic quality CT scans while ensuring radiation dose associated with hybrid PET/CT examination are minimized, and the feasibility, desirability, and timing of oral and intravenous contrast administration. The issues of clinical indications for hybrid PET/CT versus PET alone will be discussed as well as the role of the CT component (ie, for diagnosis or transmission source alone) are discussed.

Accuracy of transmission CT and FDG-PET in the detection of small pulmonary nodules with integrated PET/CT.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of detection of small pulmonary nodules on quiet breathing attenuation correction CT (CTAC) and FDG-PET when performing integrated PET/CT, as compared with a diagnostic inspiratory CT scan acquired in the same imaging session.

Methods: PET/CT scans of 107 patients with a history of carcinoma (54 male and 53 female, mean age 57.3 years) were analyzed.

Lipomatous hypertrophy of the interatrial septum: prevalence and features on fusion 18F fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/CT.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of lipomatous hypertrophy of the interatrial septum (LHIS) on CT and its metabolic pattern on 18F fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET).

Method And Materials: Eight hundred two CT PET scans were reviewed. Patients were included if the interatrial septum was > or = 1 cm and excluded if there was evidence of malignancy in the adjacent lung, hilum, or mediastinum.

Comparison of alignment of computer-registered data sets: combined PET/CT versus independent PET and CT of the thorax.

Purpose: To retrospectively determine whether alignment of registered positron emission tomographic (PET) and computed tomographic (CT) data sets obtained independently varies significantly from alignment of data sets acquired from a combined PET/CT scanner.

Materials And Methods: The study was approved by the institution's Human Research Committee with a waiver of informed consent and complied with HIPAA. Whole-body combined PET/CT data sets and separate routinely positioned thoracic CT data sets were obtained from 12 patients (six men, six women; mean age, 48.

Chest CT performed with z-axis modulation: scanning protocol and radiation dose.

Institutional review board approval of the study protocol and waiver of informed consent were obtained. This study was compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The purpose of this study was to retrospectively assess the scanning protocol and radiation dose associated with z-axis automatic tube current modulation in multi-detector row CT scanning of the chest.

State-of-the-Art FDG-PET imaging of lung cancer.

The D-glucose analog 2-(fluorine-18)-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) is the most commonly used radionuclide in positron emission tomography (PET) of lung cancer. FDG-PET is a molecular imaging technique that images the preferential accumulation of FDG in malignant tissues with increased metabolism. Although FDG-PET is sensitive in the detection of lung cancer, FDG is not tumor specific and may accumulate in a variety of nonmalignant conditions.

Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography pattern of pulmonary lymphangitic carcinomatosis.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) uptake in pulmonary lymphangitic carcinomatosis identified on computed tomography (CT) in patients with lung cancer.

Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of F-FDG PET images in 7 patients (4 male and 3 female, mean age: 56.6 +/- 6.

Imaging of metastatic disease to the thorax.

Tumor imaging is at the forefront of radiology technology and is the focus of most cutting edge research. Radiologic applications for imaging of metastases are applied to initial staging, restaging after neoadjuvant therapy, and follow-up surveillance after therapy for tumor recurrence. CT is the routine imaging choice in staging, restaging, and detection of recurrence.

Small incidental pulmonary nodules: how useful is short-term interval CT follow-up?

Purpose: To determine whether short-term (<6 month) follow-up imaging by thoracic CT is necessary to evaluate small (< or =4 mm) noncalcified nodules (NCN) in patients with no history of malignancy or acute lung disease.

Materials And Methods: We reviewed serial thoracic helical CT scans between 1999-2000 obtained for the evaluation or follow-up imaging of small NCNs. CT scans were performed at 5-mm collimation.