Faculty Bibliography

In-111-labeled monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) directed against colorectal carcinoma are close to routine clinical use. In-111 offers advantages as a label for radioimmunodetection. The MAbs used most for detecting colorectal cancer are specific for CEA or TAG-7 The sensitivity of In-111-MAbs in clinical studies has ranged from 60 to >90% with highest sensitivity in the pelvis and lowest in the live). The sensitivity for liver lesions is rising as chelate chemistry improves. Radioimmunodetection of colorectal cancer is most useful in the patient with a possible recurrence based on an equivocal CT finding (e.g. scar vs. tumor) or an elevated serum CEA (i.e.. occult disease), or in the patient with a single known recurrence/metastasis and in whom resection is contemplated

Thallium imaging was performed on a 2-month-old infant with a left coronary artery originating from the pulmonary artery. Imaging was performed before and after corrective surgery, which involved creating a new left coronary osteum from the ascending aorta. The radionuclide study documented successful revascularization postoperatively

PURPOSE: To test potential protection by ICRF-187 against cumulative doxorubicin-dose-related cardiac toxicity, we conducted a randomized clinical trial in 150 women with advanced breast cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients received fluorouracil (5FU) 500 mg/m2, doxorubicin 50 mg/m2, and cyclophosphamide 500 mg/m2 every 21 days intravenously (IV) (control regimen, 74 patients), or the same regimen preceded by ICRF-187 1,000 mg/m2 IV (experimental regimen, 76 patients). RESULTS: We previously reported that ICRF-187 in this dose and schedule provides cardiac protection and does not substantially alter the noncardiac toxicity or antitumor efficacy of the control regimen. In this updated analysis of the entire patient cohort, we provide additional support for these findings and demonstrate that patients in the ICRF-187 group received more cycles (median, 11) and higher cumulative doses (median, 500 mg/m2) of doxorubicin than patients in the control group (median, nine cycles, P less than .01; and 441 mg/m2, P less than .05). Twenty-six patients in the ICRF-187 group received doxorubicin doses of at least 700 mg/m2, and among them, 11 patients received 1,000 mg/m2 or more. Only three patients in the control group received doxorubicin doses of 700 mg/m2; the maximum dose administered to one patient in this group was 950 mg/m2. ICRF-187 cardiac protection was demonstrated by difference in incidence of clinical congestive heart failure (CHF; two patients in the ICRF-187 group v 20 in the control group; P less than .0001) and by differences in resting left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) determined by multigated radionuclide (MUGA) scan from baselines and that required patient removal from study (five patients in the ICRF-187 group had a decrease in LVEF to less than 0.45 or a decrease from the baseline LVEF of 0.20 or more v 32 in the control group; P less than .000001). Among the 30 patients who had an assessable endomyocardial biopsy at cumulative doxorubicin 450 mg/m2, none of 16 in the ICRF-187 group and six of 14 in the control group had a score of 2 (P less than .05). ICRF-187 cardiac protection was observed in patients with and without prior chest-wall radiation or other risk factors for developing doxorubicin cardiac toxicity. CONCLUSION: By protecting against cumulative doxorubicin-induced cardiac toxicity, ICRF-187 permits significantly greater doses of doxorubicin to be administered to patients with greater safety

Quantitation of renal function may be performed with a variety of radiopharmaceuticals which reflect slightly different renal functions. Plasma sampling techniques and imaging techniques have been used to derive absolute measurements of renal function. The addition of imaging permits the determination of relative or 'split' function. Time-activity curves from renal studies provide other quantitative parameters of function reflecting arterial supply, renal cortical function, and patency of the renal collecting system. Quantitative radionuclide studies of the kidneys provide comprehensive, reproducible, and objective assessments of renal function

A method of image analysis was developed for correlation of hemangiomas detected at computed tomography (CT) and/or magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with increased blood pool activity evident at single photon emission CT (SPECT) performed after labeling of red blood cells with technetium-99m. Image analysis was performed in 20 patients with 35 known hepatic hemangiomas. After section thickness and pixel sizes of the different studies were matched, intrinsic landmarks were chosen to identify anatomically corresponding locations. Regions of interest (ROIs) drawn on the CT and/or MR images were translated, rotated, and reprojected to match the areas of interest on the corresponding SPECT images by means of a two-dimensional polynomial-based warping algorithm. Analysis of ROIs on 30 SPECT-MR and 20 SPECT-CT pairs of registered images provided absolute confirmation that 34 suspected hemangiomas identified on SPECT images correlated exactly with lesions seen on CT and/or MR images. Accuracy of fusion was within an average of 1.5 pixels +/- 0.8 (+/- 1 standard deviation). The technique enabled diagnostic confirmation of hemangiomas as small as 1.0 cm and proved useful for evaluating lesions located adjacent to intrahepatic vessels

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections are accompanied by many different types of neurological complications. Opportunistic infections and neoplasms, particularly lymphoma, are often an underlying cause for these complications in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Frequently, these can be detected by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examination, double-dose contrast transmission computed tomography (CT), and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). It has become apparent that the HIV itself is responsible for a significant percentage of neurological disease in the HIV-seropositive individual. The onset may be subtle and may occur before the onset of frank immunosuppression. Diagnosis of HIV encephalitis or AIDS dementia complex (ADC) is complicated by the frequent coexistence of opportunistic infections. Structural neuroimaging (CT or MRI) shows atrophy and in some case white matter abnormalities, but imaging-pathological correlation suggests that these modalities are relatively insensitive to the presence of HIV brain infection. Functional neuroimaging, both 18fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET) for evaluation of glucose metabolism and 123I iodoamphetamine or 99mTc-HMPAO single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) for evaluation of cerebral perfusion, can demonstrate abnormalities in the subcortical gray matter structures and the cerebral cortex in patients with ADC. These abnormalities may be observed early in the course of ADC even when MRI is negative and the patient is relatively asymptomatic. Also, PET and SPECT may be useful to follow progression of the dementia or response to therapy

Thirty-seven patients with 69 suspected hemangiomas found by means of computed tomography (CT) and/or ultrasound were studied with both 0.5-T magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and single photon emission CT (SPECT) with technetium-99m-labeled red blood cells. Using a criterion of 'perfusion-blood pool mismatch,' SPECT readers diagnosed 50 of 64 hemangiomas and all five 'nonhemangiomas' (sensitivity, 78% [95% confidence interval, 0.664 - 0.864]; accuracy, 80% [0.69 - 0.877]). Qualitative analysis of lesion signal intensity on T2-weighted spin-echo MR images allowed readers to diagnose 58 of 64 hemangiomas and four of five nonhemangiomas (sensitivity, 91% [0.814 - 0.96]; accuracy, 90% [0.807 - 0.951]). Because of the significantly higher cost of MR imaging and its inability to categorically differentiate hemangiomas from hypervascular metastases, the authors consider SPECT to be the method of choice for diagnosing hepatic hemangiomas. MR imaging should be reserved for the diagnosis of lesions smaller than 2.0 cm and for those 2.5 cm and smaller adjacent to the heart or major hepatic vessels; in such cases MR imaging was found superior to SPECT

The challenge of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) for nuclear medicine has been the early detection of related intrathoracic opportunistic infections, inflammatory conditions, and neoplasms. Gallium-67 citrate scanning has proved a sensitive test not only for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia but for many of the other opportunistic infections and malignancies, including mycobacterial infections and lymphoma. Patterns and intensity of gallium uptake may suggest more specific diagnoses. Indium-111-labeled white blood cells may also be a valuable diagnostic tool in the AIDS patient