Over the past 10 months, we have performed mass screenings for thyroid diseases on the inhabitants of Aizu, Fukushima Prefecture, in cooperation with the women's department of the local agricultural cooperative. The number of examinees so far has reached a total of 2, 481 persons-2, 025 women and 456 men.
By palpation, goiter has been found in 208 (8.4%) persons-204 women and 4 men. The detection ratio was low when compared with the percentage recorded in Kamaishi, and higher than those in Kofu and Chiba.
Out of the 208 persons, 152 men and women underwent further examination, with the result that simple goiter was found in 35 persons; subacute thyroiditis in one person; chronic thyroiditis in 44; Basedow's disease in 8; and nodular goiter in 64.
Aizu stood highest next only to Kamaishi on the list in the chronic thyroiditis detection ratio. Kofu and Chiba followed in that order. As regards adenoma and adenomatous goiter in the thyroid grand, Aizu was on a par with Kamaishi, outdistancing Kofu and Chiba. Thyroid cancer was found less in Aizu than in Kamaishi and Kofu, but more or less at the same ratio with Chiba. As for Basedow's disease, Aizu ranked first.

PURPOSE: The differences in performance between the cadmium-zinc-telluride (CZT) camera or collimation systems and conventional Anger single-photon emission computed tomography (A-SPECT) remain insufficient from the viewpoint of the user. We evaluated the performance of the D-SPECT (Spectrum Dynamics, Israel) system to provide more information to the cardiologist or radiological technologist about its use in the clinical field.MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study evaluated the performance of the D-SPECTsystem in terms of energy resolution, detector sensitivity, spatial resolution, modulation transfer function (MTF), and collimator resolution in comparison with that of A-SPECT (Bright-View, Philips, Japan). Energy resolution and detector sensitivity were measured for Tc-99m, I-123, and Tl-201. The SPECT images produced by both systems were evaluated visually using the anthropomorphic torso phantom.RESULTS: The energy resolution of D-SPECT with Tc-99m and I-123 was approximately two times higher than that of ASPECT. The detector sensitivity of D-SPECT was higher than that of A-SPECT (Tc-99m: 4.2 times, I-123: 2.2 times, and Tl-201: 5.9 times). The mean spatial resolution of D-SPECTwas two times higher than that of A-SPECT. The MTF of D-SPECT was superior to that of the A-SPECT system for all frequencies. The collimator resolution of D-SPECT was lower than that of A-SPECT; however, the D-SPECT images clearly indicated better spatial resolution than the A-SPECT images.CONCLUSION: The energy resolution, detector sensitivity, spatial resolution, and MTF of D-SPECT were superior to those of A-SPECT. Although the collimator resolution was lower than that of A-SPECT, the D-SPECT images were clearly of better quality.
Anger ; Cardiology ; Tomography, Emission-Computed ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon ; Torso

OBJECTIVE: A recently introduced single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), based on cadmium-zinc-telluride (CZT) detectors (D-SPECT), supports high energy resolution for cardiac imaging. Importantly, the high energy resolution may allow simultaneous dual-isotope (SDI) imaging (e.g., using Tc-99m and I-123). We quantitatively evaluated Tc-99m/I-123 SDI imaging by D-SPECT in comparison with conventional T1-201/I-123.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Energy resolution was measured as a percentage of the full width at half maximum(FWHM) for Tc-99m, I-123, and Tl-201. The impact of cross-talk and reconstructed image contrast were quantified by measuring the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and the transmural defect contrast in the left ventricle wall (CTD) induced by a difference in energy, for combinations of Tc-99m/I-123 or Tl-201/I-123, using an RH-2 cardiac phantom. Corresponding measurement was also carried out in Anger SPECT (A-SPECT).RESULTS: The energy resolution of the D-SPECTsystem was 5.4%/5.1%for Tc-99m/I-123 and 5.4%/5.3%for Tl-201/I-123, which was approximately two times higher than the A-SPECT. No notable difference was confirmed in the CNRs of the two systems, but T1-201/I-123 showed overall higher value than Tc-99m/I-123. Compared to A-SPECT, CTD of D-SPECT significantly increased with both Tc-99m/I-123 and T1-201/I-123 (p < 0.05). In DSPECT, the combination of Tc-99m/I-123 had a slightly better CTD than T1-201/I-123. In addition, CTD of Tc-99m/I-123 was improved with scatter correction at both nuclides (p < 0.05), but in Tl-201/I-123, no significant improvement was confirmed in I-123 (p > 0.05).CONCLUSION: D-SPECT was considered to be capable of performing high-quality SDI imaging using Tc-99m/I-123.
Anger ; Heart Ventricles ; Tomography, Emission-Computed ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon

OBJECTIVE: A recently introduced single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), based on cadmium-zinc-telluride (CZT) detectors (D-SPECT), supports high energy resolution for cardiac imaging. Importantly, the high energy resolution may allow simultaneous dual-isotope (SDI) imaging (e.g., using Tc-99m and I-123). We quantitatively evaluated Tc-99m/I-123 SDI imaging by D-SPECT in comparison with conventional T1-201/I-123. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Energy resolution was measured as a percentage of the full width at half maximum(FWHM) for Tc-99m, I-123, and Tl-201. The impact of cross-talk and reconstructed image contrast were quantified by measuring the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and the transmural defect contrast in the left ventricle wall (CTD) induced by a difference in energy, for combinations of Tc-99m/I-123 or Tl-201/I-123, using an RH-2 cardiac phantom. Corresponding measurement was also carried out in Anger SPECT (A-SPECT). RESULTS: The energy resolution of the D-SPECTsystem was 5.4%/5.1%for Tc-99m/I-123 and 5.4%/5.3%for Tl-201/I-123, which was approximately two times higher than the A-SPECT. No notable difference was confirmed in the CNRs of the two systems, but T1-201/I-123 showed overall higher value than Tc-99m/I-123. Compared to A-SPECT, CTD of D-SPECT significantly increased with both Tc-99m/I-123 and T1-201/I-123 (p < 0.05). In DSPECT, the combination of Tc-99m/I-123 had a slightly better CTD than T1-201/I-123. In addition, CTD of Tc-99m/I-123 was improved with scatter correction at both nuclides (p < 0.05), but in Tl-201/I-123, no significant improvement was confirmed in I-123 (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION D-SPECT was considered to be capable of performing high-quality SDI imaging using Tc-99m/I-123.