Safety and Efficacy of Y Selective Internal Radiation Therapy Using Glass Microspheres in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Southeast Asian Single-Institution Initial Experience.

Our objective was to demonstrate primarily the safety and secondarily the efficacy of Y glass microspheres in selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in a local Southeast Asian hospital. Eleven consecutive patients with small, unresectable, nonmetastatic HCC and referred for locoregional therapy with SIRT with a curative intention were followed up for 6 mo after the procedure by way of interviews, blood tests, and anatomic scans. Although 5 patients had deranged liver function tests after the procedure, in only 1 patient did this constitute a grade 1 toxicity (in alkaline phosphatase) by the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events.

"Seeing Is Believing": Additive Utility of Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT in Prostate Cancer Diagnosis.

Widespread adoption of mpMRI has led to a decrease in the number of patients requiring prostate biopsies. Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT has demonstrated added benefits in identifying csPCa. Integrating the use of these imaging techniques may hold promise for predicting the presence of csPCa without invasive biopsy.

'Smart reminder': A feasibility pilot study on the effects of a wearable device treatment on the hemiplegic upper limb in persons with stroke.

Introduction: Emerging literature suggests that wearable devices offer a promising option for self-directed home-based upper limb training for persons with stroke. However, little research is available to explore integrating smartphone applications with wearable devices to provide upper limb telerehabilitation to stroke survivors at home. This study examined the feasibility and potential therapeutic effects of a wearable device integrated with a smartphone-based telerehabilitation system to provide upper limb rehabilitation to stroke survivors at home.

The Curious Case of the Missing Limb on FDG PET Imaging.

A 58-year-old woman with poorly controlled diabetes, peripheral vascular disease, and end-stage renal disease requiring hemodialysis was referred for 18 F-FDG PET/CT to evaluate for source of sepsis. She had history of prior left forefoot and right second toe amputation, as well as left lower-limb dry gangrene for which she declined surgical management. We present a case of a nonamputated lower limb demonstrating regions of absolute photopenia, consistent with dry gangrene.

Safety and efficacy of peptide receptor radionuclide therapy in patients with advanced pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma: A single-institution experience and review of the literature.

Introduction: Despite advances in diagnosis and management, patients with advanced pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas (PPGL) face limited treatment options. This study aims to evaluate the safety and efficacy of peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) in patients with advanced PPGL, based on a single-institution experience and provide a comprehensive review of the literature.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on patients with advanced pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma who received PRRT at a single institution from April 2012 to March 2022.

Outcomes and prognostic predictors of Lu-177 PSMA radioligand therapy in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (Asian Population Study).

Aim: Lutetium-177 (Lu-177) prostate-specific membrane antigen radioligand therapy (PSMA-RLT) is a promising therapy for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), but there is limited data of its efficacy and safety in Asian population. We aim to explore the clinical outcomes of Lu-177 PSMA-RLT in this population.

Methods: We evaluated 84 patients with progressive mCRPC receiving Lu-177 PSMA-RLT between 9 May 2018 and 21 February 2022.

Semi-quantitative indices of 2-[F]FDG PET/CT in assessing cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular manifestations of IgG4-related disease and treatment response.

Background: IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a heterogeneous autoimmune disorder characterised by inflammatory lesions. Diagnostic imaging, such as 2-[F]FDG PET/CT, is critical in evaluation of the disease, especially for potentially lethal cardiovascular manifestations. This retrospective study examines the usefulness of semi-quantitative parameters of 2-[F]FDG PET/CT in monitoring IgG4-RD in patients with and without cardiovascular manifestations.

Prognostication of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients with Deauville score of 3 or 4 at end-of-treatment PET evaluation: a comparison of the Deauville 5-point scale and the ΔSUVmax method.

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is treated with anti-CD 20 and multi-drug chemotherapy for cure. Positron emission tomography (PET) scans are performed at end of treatment (EOT) to assess response. EOT Deauville scores (DS) are equivocal for treatment response in some situations, requiring physicians to determine the need for further investigations or treatment.

F-FDG PET/CT Manifestations of IgG4-related Disease.

Immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD) was not recognised as a systemic condition until 2003, when extra pancreatic manifestations were identified in patients with autoimmune pancreatitis. Since then, IgG4-RD has been described to involve virtually every organ system. It is highly responsive to immunosuppressants but can have detrimental effects if left untreated.

Facing a disruptive threat: how can a nuclear medicine service be prepared for the coronavirus outbreak 2020?

Purpose: The aim of this short communication is to outline our experience in policies and processes of a nuclear medicine service during the COVID-19 outbreak in Singapore.

Methods: We describe the key considerations of policies and processes that have been implemented in our nuclear medicine service since the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Singapore General Hospital on 23 January 2020, up to the present time.

Results: Infection control, screening of patients and visitors, segregation of risk groups, segregation of staff and service continuity plans, communication and staff welfare, using electronic platforms for multi-disciplinary meetings and tele-reporting are discussed.

High Thyroid Stimulating Receptor Antibody Titre and Large Goitre Size at First-Time Radioactive Iodine Treatment are Associated with Treatment Failure in Graves' Disease.

Introduction: Our study aimed to identify the factors associated with successful first-time radioactive iodine (RAI) treatment in patients with Graves' disease (GD).

Materials And Methods: This is a restrospective study of patients with GD who were treated with RAI. Treatment success was defined as onset of permanent hypothyroidism or euthyroidism after 1 dose of RAI at 1-year follow-up.

The Utility of FDG PET/CT in IgG4-Related Disease with a Focus on Coronary Artery Involvement.

Purpose: Our case series aims to study the growing use of FDG PET/CT in diagnostic evaluation and follow up of IgG4-RD with emphasis on patients presenting with coronary artery involvement.

Methods: We conducted a search on the nuclear medicine and rheumatology service databases and identified patients with histologically proven IgG4-RD with FDG PET/CT performed at the Singapore General Hospital. The radiological, clinical, and laboratory findings of these patients were analyzed retrospectively.

Subacute Thyroiditis-An Often Overlooked Sonographic Diagnosis: Report of 3 Cases.

The characteristic sonographic finding of subacute thyroiditis of a heterogeneous poorly defined hypoechoic area in the thyroid gland may mimic that of thyroid malignancy. This finding needs to be interpreted in the correct clinical context to avoid an unnecessary biopsy. We describe 3 patients who underwent thyroid biopsy on the basis of suspicious sonographic findings but who subsequently had a diagnosis of subacute thyroiditis.

Gender, Race, and Age at Diagnosis as Risk Factors for Metastasis or Recurrence among 1,657 Thyroid Cancer Patients Treated with Radioiodine across 40 Years in Singapore.

Background: To obtain descriptive data on Singaporean thyroid cancer patients treated with radioiodine and to assess gender, race, and age at diagnosis as risk factors for metastasis or recurrence.

Methods: This is a retrospective study of all thyroid cancer patients treated with radioiodine of any prescribed activity at our institution. Data collected included: age at diagnosis, gender, race, histopathological type, duration of follow-up, and metastasis at diagnosis (locoregional or distant) or recurrence at any time.

Measures of activity-based pedestrian exposure to the risk of vehicle-pedestrian collisions: space-time path vs. potential path tree methods.

Research on the extent to which pedestrians are exposed to road collision risk is important to the improvement of pedestrian safety. As precise geographical information is often difficult and costly to collect, this study proposes a potential path tree method derived from time geography concepts in measuring pedestrian exposure. With negative binomial regression (NBR) and geographically weighted Poisson regression (GWPR) models, the proposed probabilistic two-anchor-point potential path tree (PPT) approach (including the equal and weighted PPT methods) are compared with the deterministic space-time path (STP) method.

Cardiac structural abnormalities associated with IgG4-related coronary periarteritis and inflammation revealed by multimodality imaging.

A man presented with shortness of breath, and a globular heart was seen on a chest radiograph. An echocardiogram showed masses at the atrioventricular grooves. Computed tomography (CT) coronary angiography and fluorine-18 ((18)F) fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET)/CT confirmed coronary aneurysms with hypermetabolic perivascular masses at the coronary arteries and right internal iliac artery.

SPECT/CT in musculoskeletal infections.

This article provides a brief overview of the current state of hybrid single-photon emission computed tomography/computer tomography (SPECT/CT) imaging in musculoskeletal infections. SPECT/CT imaging, compared with conventional planar study and SPECT alone, provides improved anatomic localization of infection and more accurate delineation of the extent of infection. This article emphasizes three clinical aspects where SPECT/CT is found to be most useful: differentiating between soft tissue and bone infections, assessing suspected infected sites with underlying structural bone alterations, and defining infective focus when complex anatomy is involved.

Pancreatic metastasis detected by F-18 FDG PET/CT in a patient with breast cancer.

Pancreatic involvement by metastasis from other primaries is rare and accounts for approximately 2% to 4% of pancreatic tumors. In this article, we describe FDG-avid pancreatic involvement in a patient with diagnosis of breast cancer. We conclude that FDG PET can be a convenient noninvasive method of early detection of recurrence and in monitoring metastatic disease during follow-up in such patients.

Discovering functional interdependence relationship in PPI networks for protein complex identification.

Protein molecules interact with each other in protein complexes to perform many vital functions, and different computational techniques have been developed to identify protein complexes in protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks. These techniques are developed to search for subgraphs of high connectivity in PPI networks under the assumption that the proteins in a protein complex are highly interconnected. While these techniques have been shown to be quite effective, it is also possible that the matching rate between the protein complexes they discover and those that are previously determined experimentally be relatively low and the "false-alarm" rate can be relatively high.

Promising role of [18F] fluorocholine PET/CT vs [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT in primary brain tumors-early experience.

Primary brain tumors (PBT), in particular gliomas, are among the most difficult neoplasms to treat, necessitating good quality imaging to guide clinicians at many junctures. Current imaging modalities, including [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT, MRI and MR spectroscopy (MRS), have various limitations, particularly with regard to differentiating tumor from radiation induced necrosis (RIN) and from normal cerebral metabolic uptake. [18F] fluorocholine (FCH) is an analog of choline with potentially optimal imaging characteristics, as pharmacokinetic studies with FCH conducted in patients showed minimal FCH uptake by normal brain parenchyma, whereas high-grade tumors are known to have increased choline uptake.

A graph-based algorithm for mining multi-level patterns in genomic data.

Comparative genomics is concerned with the study of genome structure and function of different species. It can provide useful information for the derivation of evolutionary and functional relationships between genomes. Previous work on genome comparison focuses mainly on comparing the entire genomes for visualization without further analysis.

Structure of the γ-D-glutamyl-L-diamino acid endopeptidase YkfC from Bacillus cereus in complex with L-Ala-γ-D-Glu: insights into substrate recognition by NlpC/P60 cysteine peptidases.

Dipeptidyl-peptidase VI from Bacillus sphaericus and YkfC from Bacillus subtilis have both previously been characterized as highly specific γ-D-glutamyl-L-diamino acid endopeptidases. The crystal structure of a YkfC ortholog from Bacillus cereus (BcYkfC) at 1.8 Å resolution revealed that it contains two N-terminal bacterial SH3 (SH3b) domains in addition to the C-terminal catalytic NlpC/P60 domain that is ubiquitous in the very large family of cell-wall-related cysteine peptidases.

Structures of three members of Pfam PF02663 (FmdE) implicated in microbial methanogenesis reveal a conserved α+β core domain and an auxiliary C-terminal treble-clef zinc finger.

Examination of the genomic context for members of the FmdE Pfam family (PF02663), such as the protein encoded by the fmdE gene from the methanogenic archaeon Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum, indicates that 13 of them are co-transcribed with genes encoding subunits of molybdenum formylmethanofuran dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.99.