Tb production by cyclotrons: what level of Gd enrichment allows clinical applications?

Background: Tb represents a potentially useful radionuclide for diagnostic medical applications, but its production remains a challenging problem, in spite of the fact that many production routes have been already investigated and tested. A recent experimental campaign, conducted with low-energy proton beams impinging on a Gd target with 91.9% enrichment, demonstrated a significant co-production of Tb, a contaminant of great concern since its half-life is comparable to that of Tb and its high-energy γ emissions severely impact on the dose released and on the quality of the SPECT images.

A rare variation in the origin of the lingual artery: thyro-linguo-laryngeal trunk.

The anatomy of the external carotid artery and its variations are of ground significance in head and neck surgery. During a dissection of a male cadaver, an undescribed common trunk between superior thyroid, superior laryngeal, and lingual arteries was found. The variations of the anterior cervical branches of the external carotid artery and their clinical implications are discussed.

Internal radiation dose assessment of radiopharmaceuticals prepared with cyclotron-produced Tc.

Purpose: Technetium-99m ( Tc) is the radioisotope most widely used in diagnostic nuclear medicine. It is readily available from Mo/ Tc generators as the β decay product of the Mo (T  = 66 h) parent nuclide. This latter is obtained as a fission product in nuclear reactors by neutron-induced reactions on highly enriched uranium.

Radioisotopic purity and imaging properties of cyclotron-produced Tc using direct Mo(p,2n) reaction.

Evaluation of the radioisotopic purity of technetium-99m (Tc) produced in GBq amounts by proton bombardment of enriched molibdenum-100 (Mo) metallic targets at low proton energies (i.e. within 15-20 MeV) is conducted.

In-house cyclotron production of high-purity Tc-99m and Tc-99m radiopharmaceuticals.

In the last years, the technology for producing the important medical radionuclide technetium-99m by cyclotrons has become sufficiently mature to justify its introduction as an alternative source of the starting precursor [Tc][TcO] ubiquitously employed for the production of Tc-radiopharmaceuticals in hospitals. These technologies make use almost exclusively of the nuclear reaction Mo(p,2n)Tc that allows direct production of Tc-99m. In this study, it is conjectured that this alternative production route will not replace the current supply chain based on the distribution of Mo/Tc generators, but could become a convenient emergency source of Tc-99m only for in-house hospitals equipped with a conventional, low-energy, medical cyclotron.

A case of transitional cell bladder carcinoma prolapsed from the external urethral orifice: a 6-year follow-up after percutaneous suprapubic bladder.

A 30-year-old female was admitted in emergency with acute urinary retention due to bladder tumour prolapsed from the external urethral orifice. The patient underwent immediate endoscopic surgery via suprapubic percutaneous approach. The histological examination confirmed a superficial highly differentiated transitional cell bladder carcinoma.

Measuring the imaged-object distance with a stationary high-spatial-resolution scintillation camera.

A method to measure the detector-to-object distance from the images obtained with stationary high-spatial-resolution gamma-ray cameras for in vivo studies has been developed. It exploits the shift of the imaged object in the image plane, obtained at a certain tilt of the parallel-hole collimator. A linear dependence of the image displacement on the distance to the object has been measured using a high-spatial-resolution scintillation camera employing an yttrium-aluminium perovskite (YAP) scintillator.

Performance measurements of a high-spatial-resolution YAP camera.

Physical properties of a position-sensitive camera for the analysis of biodistributions of gamma- and beta-emitting radiopharmaceuticals in small animals have been studied, in order to achieve optimal operating conditions. The camera consisted of a highly segmented yttrium-aluminate perovskite (YAP) scintillator, coupled to a position-sensitive photomultiplier. The energy resolution, the detection efficiency, the spatial resolution, the spatial linearity and the count-rate linearity of the YAP camera have been determined.

[Treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia with tamsulosin].

The past few decades mark a rejuvenation of the contingent of benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) patients. The condition affects mainly the active age in men, with the substantial financial burden of treatment leading to a surge of interest in the disease. The hazards of postoperative complications development constrain modern urologists to seek for new, safer and more effective methods of conservative management.

CT scan and threshold vibrometry in the diagnosis of spinocerebellar degenerations.

45 patients with spinocerebellar degeneration (SCD) underwent through quantitative investigation of the ventricular and cisternal systems by CT scanning and threshold vibrometry in the limbs to find out whether these parameters could be used for distinguishing mainly spinal from cerebellar forms or from olivopontocerebellar atrophy. The increase in the vibration sense threshold and the mild atrophy in the posterior cranial fossa proved typical of spinal forms and the reverse for cerebellar forms. In olivopontocerebellar atrophy enlargement of the cisterns and dilatation of the ventricles always exceeded 85% of normal values.

[Crow-Fukase syndrome--the first case report in Bulgaria].

A case of a 53 years old woman with Crow-Fukase's syndrome, the first case diagnosed and described in Bulgaria, is presented. The patient presented with polyneuropathy (predominantly locomotor, better expressed in the legs and less expressed in the hands, with hyperproteinorachia), anasarca (peripherial edema, ascites, hydrothorax), skin changes (hyperpigmentations), endocrinopathy (transitory carbohydrate intolerance), dysglobulinemia, organomegaly (hepatomegaly).

Trends of cancer incidence in Bulgaria for the period 1964-1980.

Levels of cancer incidence in Bulgaria have been examined by sex, overall and for ten prevailing lesion sites, as recorded over the period 1964-1980. Using linear regression, steady trends of standardized morbidity have been ascertained. The findings indicate rising frequencies for overall malignant disease, as well as for lung cancer in males, breast cancer, cancer of the uterine body and of the ovary, cancer of the prostate, cancer of the urinary bladder, and malignancies of the lymphatic and blood-forming tissues.