Radionuclide Diagnosis Research Articles

Nuclear medicine evaluation of hypertension.

Noninvasive diagnosis of renovascular hypertension using nuclear medicine techniques has evolved in the past 30 years through improvements in imaging equipment, radiotracers, and, most recently, captopril intervention. Characteristic patterns of normal and abnormal renograms using typical radiotracers are demonstrated, including renal artery stenosis. Comparison with other tests, both invasive and noninvasive, are made with the aim toward identifying anatomic as well as physiologic definitions of renovascular hypertension. Pitfalls in the methodology are also described. The main advantage of captopril renography is enhancement of the sensitivity, and particularly the specificity, of the radionuclide diagnosis of renovascular hypertension. Available investigations have identified captopril renography as the likely procedure of choice in the noninvasive identification of renovascular hypertension.

Mathematical simulation in functional radionuclide diagnosis: Current status and prospects for development

Mathematical simulation in functional radionuclide diagnosis: Current status and prospects for development

Application program package for transport models of radioactive pharmacological preparations in functional radionuclide diagnosis

Application program package for transport models of radioactive pharmacological preparations in functional radionuclide diagnosis

Monitoring the level of radioactive contamination of surfaces by sources of gamma-radiation in departments of radionuclide diagnosis

Monitoring the level of radioactive contamination of surfaces by sources of gamma-radiation in departments of radionuclide diagnosis

Radionuclide diagnosis of paediatric retroperitoneal tumours using 99mTc-pyrphotech

Forty-five children with retroperitoneal lesions were studied using 99mTc-pyrphotech (a complex of 99mTc with pyrophosphate) by dynamic and static scintigraphy. Highest efficacy in the visualisation of primary neuroblastomas and Wilms' tumours (WT) (86.7% and 91.7%, respectively) was recorded in early static scintigraphy (a series of scintigraphies after 20–30 min of investigation). Scintigrams obtained within 20–30 min of dynamic scintigraphy and later static scintigraphy, i.e. 2–3 h after administration of 99mTc-pyrphotech, revealed lower efficacy (73.3% and 58.3%; 73.3% and 50%, respectively). Sufficiently accurate information on the anatomotopographic kidney status was obtained during scintigram evaluation within the initial 5 min of investigation. Scintigrams showing, at this time, a non visible kidney or defective drug incorporation in the renal parenchyma and the respective visualised tumours at later scintigraphy were typical of WT, while the absence of such defects, together with tumour visualisation, were characteristic of neuroblastoma. Considering the above scintigraphic patterns and optimal time intervals in the study of the kidney and tumour, the sensitivity of radionuclide diagnosis of neuroblastoma and WT was 86.7% and 91.7%, respectively, the specificity being 100%. In malignant lymphomas, patients with retroperitoneal node lesions showed the drug hyperfixation in the projection of the ureter compressed by the tumour masses, while in patients with the process of leukaemisation, the drug was predominantly incorporated in the central compartments of the renal segments; renograms were characteristic of the diffuse type lesion. Evaluation of renograms obtained during dynamic scintigraphy with 99mTc-pyrphotech, enabled detection of renal dysfunction in the majority of patients. Osteoscintigraphy during the conclusive stage of investigations revealed skeletal lesion foci.

Radionuclides in diagnosis

Radionuclides make a substantial contribution to the task of diagnosis of a wide range of diseases in modern medicine. Techniques now in use are based on developments in imaging detectors (the gamma camera, computers and radiopharmaceuticals, particularly technetium compounds).

Radionuclide assessment and diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction

Radionuclide assessment and diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction

Radionuclide diagnosis of anomalous origin of the right pulmonary artery from the ascending aorta (so-called hemitruncus)

A 5-week-old infant presented with signs of severe congestive heart failure and pulmonary hypertension. Injection of technetium-99m pertechnetate demonstrated anomalous perfusion of the right lung. Subsequently, anomalous origin of the right pulmonary artery from the ascending aorta was proven at cardiac catheterization and repaired. Repeat injection of radionuclide 1 week postoperatively demonstrated normal flow to the right lung.

Radionuclide diagnosis and therapy of thyroid cancer: Current status report

Thyroid cancer is uncommon, with an incidence of 10,300 new patients each year and a mortality of 1,100 patients each year. Patient survival correlates with many factors, including tumor pathology, age, primary lesion size, distant metastases, extent of surgery, and radioiodine therapy. Deaths from thyroid cancer may occur many years after diagnosis, and such an indolent course has hampered the analysis of the multiple treatment programs advocated. Thyroid imaging continues to play an important role in the initial detection and follow-up management of thyroid cancer, but the search for a specific tracer for the primary lesion continues. The complementary role of serum thyroglobulin and radioiodine in the follow-up of the thyroidectomized patient is discussed. Radioiodine therapy has proven effectiveness in those patients with radioiodine-avid distant metastases and/or regional metastases. Whether radioiodine ablation of residual thyroid bed activity is beneficial remains controversial.

Combined contrast echocardiographic and radionuclide diagnosis of atrial septal defect: Accuracy of the technique and analysis of erroneous diagnoses

The utility of combined peripheral vein contrast 2-dimensional echocardiography (2-D echo) and radionuclide shunt detection was evaluated in 25 patients with suspected atrial septal defect (ASD) in whom the diagnosis was confirmed at cardiac catheterization: 14 patients had ASD and 11 had no intracardiac shunt. Contrast 2-D echo correctly diagnosed 13 of 14 patients with ASD, but there were 2 false-positive diagnoses in the 11 patients without ASD. Radionuclide shunt studies correctly identified all 14 patients with ASD, but yielded 5 false-positives results among the 11 without ASD. After altering the radionuclide processing technique, there were only 2 of 11 false-positive shunt studies, and the correlation of radionuclide shunt magnitude with cardiac catheterization improved (r = 0.49, p < 0.025 to r = 0.75, p < 0.001). Thus, the improved processing method improved both the qualitative and quantitative accuracy of radionuclide shunt detection. The combination of contrast 2-D echo and radionuclide shunt detection led to a proper diagnostic and therapeutic decision in 24 of 25 patients. Therefore, these combined modalities are clinically useful in the evaluation of patients with suspected ASD.

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:Oseopathien. Handbnch der Medizinisehen Ra‐diologie. (in gennan) Encyclopedia of Medical Radiology.Ultrasonics in Clinical Diagnosis. BB Goldberg and PNT Wells.Ethics, Trade‐offs and Medical Radiation. By Eugene L. Saenger. The Lauriston S. Taylor Lecture Series in Radiation Protection and Measurement.Essential Paediatric Radiology. By GM Steiner.Nuclear Medicine – Factors Influencing the Choice and Use of Radionuclides in Diagnosis and Therapy.Pediatric and Adolescent Echocardiography.

The second insight: Radionuclide diagnosis

Nuclear medicine has been defined as the use of radionuclides (unsealed sources of radiation) in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. It is a predominantly diagnostic speciality. Of the two aspects of disease, disordered structure and disordered function, nuclear medicine or radionuclide diagnosis has been unique in consistently providing information about disordered function. The method has applications both in life ( in vivo examinations, often involving imaging radionuclide distributions in the body) and in the test-tube ( in vivo). The tracer principle has allowed insights in respect of both patient care and research across a broad spectrum of diseases. Although nuclear medicine is a specialty which continues to evolve, it already has an established role in health care, predicated on its ability to study function.

Radionuclide diagnosis of left atrial myxoma with computer-generated functional images

Radionuclide diagnosis of left atrial myxoma with computer-generated functional images

NCRP Report No. 70, Nuclear Medicine—Factors Influencing the Choice and Use of Radionuclides in Diagnosis and Therapy by National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements

<i>NCRP Report No. 70, Nuclear Medicine—Factors Influencing the Choice and Use of Radionuclides in Diagnosis and Therapy</i> by National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements

Book Reviews

Books reviewed in this article: Mosby's Fundamentals of Animal Health Technology: Small Animal Radiography. L. J. Kleine and R. G. Warren. NCRP Report #70: Nuclear Medicine‐Factors Influencing the Choice and Use of Radionuclides in Diagnosis and Therapy. National Council of Radiation Protection and Measurements.

Book Review: Nuclear Medicine: Factors Influencing the Choice and Use of Radionuclides in Diagnosis and Therapy

Book Review: Nuclear Medicine: Factors Influencing the Choice and Use of Radionuclides in Diagnosis and Therapy

National council on radiation protection and measurements. NCRP report no.70 nuclear medicine - factors influencing the choice of radionuclides in diagnosis and therapy (1982) Pub: NCRP Publications, 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 1016, Bethesda, Maryland 20

National council on radiation protection and measurements. NCRP report no.70 nuclear medicine - factors influencing the choice of radionuclides in diagnosis and therapy (1982) Pub: NCRP Publications, 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 1016, Bethesda, Maryland 20

Classification of technical equipment for radionuclide diagnosis

Classification of technical equipment for radionuclide diagnosis

Radionuclide diagnosis of Meckel's diverticulum.

Meckel's diverticulum can be detected with a high degree of accuracy by radionuclide scintigraphy using technetium-99m pertechnetate. The technique is without risk and should precede roentgenographic studies when the diagnosis is suspected. The method is described and the causes for false positive and false negative examinations are discussed. False negatives are rare and false positive are usually secondary to other surgical entities. Overall accuracy is 85 to 90%.

Rheumatology: An Annotated Bibliography of Recent Literature

Rheumatology: An Annotated Bibliography of Recent Literature