BACKGROUNDDiagnosis of syphilis is difficult. Follow-up and therapy evaluation of syphilitic patients are poor. Little is known about positron emission tomography (PET) in syphilis. This review was to systematically review usefulness of PET for diagnosis, disease extent evaluation, follow-up, and treatment response assessment in patients with syphilis.

METHODSWe searched PubMed, EMBASE, SCOPUS, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, ClinicalTrials.gov, and three Chinese databases (SinoMed, Wanfang, and CNKI) for English and Chinese language articles from inception to September 2016. We also collected potentially relevant studies and reviews using a manual search. The search keywords included the combined text and MeSH terms "syphilis" and "positron emission tomography". We included studies that reporting syphilis with a PET scan before and/or after antibiotic treatment. The diagnosis of syphilis was based on serological criteria or dark field microscopy. Outcomes include pre- and post-treatment PET scan, pre- and post-treatment computed tomography, and pre- and post-treatment magnetic resonance imaging. We excluded the articles not published in English or Chinese or not involving humans.

RESULTSOf 258 identified articles, 34 observational studies were included. Thirty-three studies were single-patient case reports and one study was a small case series. All patients were adults. The mean age of patients was 48.3 ± 12.1 years. In primary syphilis, increased fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) accumulation could be seen at the site of inoculation or in the regional lymph nodes. In secondary syphilis with lung, bone, gastrointestinal involvement, or generalized lymphadenopathy, increased FDG uptake was the most commonly detected changes. In tertiary syphilis, increased glucose metabolic activity, hypometabolic lesions, or normal glucose uptake might be seen on PET. There were five types of PET scans in neurosyphilis. A repeated PET scan after treatment revealed apparent or complete resolution of the asymmetry of radiotracer uptake.

CONCLUSIONPET is helpful in targeting diagnostic interventions, characterizing disease extent, assessing nodal involvement, and treatment efficacy for syphilis.

Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; metabolism ; Humans ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; methods ; Syphilis ; pathology

OBJECTIVETo explore the mechanism of puncturing at Sanyinjiao (SP6) on modulatory function of central nerve system.

METHODSPositron emission tomography (PET) was performed, using 18F-FDG as contrast medium, in six healthy female volunteers before and after puncturing right SP6 to detect the cerebral districts with changed glucose metabolism, using statistical parametric mapping (SPM) analysis.

RESULTSGlucose metabolism was increased in contralateral primary somatosensory cortex, primary somatic motor cortex, pre-supplementary motor cortex (BA8), and medial prefrontal cortex (BA10), bilateral supplementary motor cortex (BA6), anterior cingulate gyrus (BA24, BA32), and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (BA9), while glucose metabolism was decreased in lingual gyrus (BA17,18), hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus (BA28, BA35, BA30).

CONCLUSIONFunctions of cerebral districts with changed glucose metabolism after puncturing SP6 was well parallels to the clinical effect of puncturing SP6, illustrating the brain plays a great role in the body regulation of acupuncture at SP6, which possibly was the central foundation of acupuncture therapy.

Acupuncture ; Acupuncture Points ; Adult ; Brain ; metabolism ; physiology ; Female ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; Glucose ; metabolism ; Humans ; Positron-Emission Tomography

BACKGROUNDPermanent vegetative state is defined as the impaired level of consciousness longer than 12 months after traumatic causes and 3 months after non-traumatic causes of brain injury. Although many studies assessed the cerebral metabolism in patients with acute and persistent vegetative state after brain injury, few studies investigated the cerebral metabolism in patients with permanent vegetative state. In this study, we performed the voxel-based analysis of cerebral glucose metabolism and investigated the relationship between regional cerebral glucose metabolism and the severity of impaired consciousness in patients with permanent vegetative state after acquired brain injury.

METHODSWe compared the regional cerebral glucose metabolism as demonstrated by F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography from 12 patients with permanent vegetative state after acquired brain injury with those from 12 control subjects. Additionally, covariance analysis was performed to identify regions where decreased changes in regional cerebral glucose metabolism significantly correlated with a decrease of level of consciousness measured by JFK-coma recovery scale. Statistical analysis was performed using statistical parametric mapping.

RESULTSCompared with controls, patients with permanent vegetative state demonstrated decreased cerebral glucose metabolism in the left precuneus, both posterior cingulate cortices, the left superior parietal lobule (P(corrected) < 0.001), and increased cerebral glucose metabolism in the both cerebellum and the right supramarginal cortices (P(corrected) < 0.001). In the covariance analysis, a decrease in the level of consciousness was significantly correlated with decreased cerebral glucose metabolism in the both posterior cingulate cortices (P(uncorrected) < 0.005).

CONCLUSIONOur findings suggest that the posteromedial parietal cortex, which are part of neural network for consciousness, may be relevant structure for pathophysiological mechanism in patients with permanent vegetative state after acquired brain injury.

Adult ; Brain ; metabolism ; Brain Injuries ; metabolism ; Female ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; Glucose ; metabolism ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Persistent Vegetative State ; metabolism

BACKGROUNDCerebral glucose metabolism changes are always observed in patients suffering from malignant tumors. This preliminary study aimed to investigate the brain glucose metabolism changes in patients with lung cancer of different histological types.

METHODSOne hundred and twenty patients with primary untreated lung cancer, who visited People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University from February 2012 to July 2013, were divided into three groups based on histological types confirmed by biopsy or surgical pathology, which included adenocarcinoma (52 cases), squamous cell carcinoma (43 cases), and small-cell carcinoma (25 cases). The whole body 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) of these cases was retrospectively studied. The brain PET data of three groups were analyzed individually using statistical parametric maps (SPM) software, with 50 age-matched and gender-matched healthy controls for comparison.

RESULTSThe brain resting glucose metabolism in all three lung cancer groups showed regional cerebral metabolic reduction. The hypo-metabolic cerebral regions were mainly distributed at the left superior and middle frontal, bilateral superior and middle temporal and inferior and middle temporal gyrus. Besides, the hypo-metabolic regions were also found in the right inferior parietal lobule and hippocampus in the small-cell carcinoma group. The area of the total hypo-metabolic cerebral regions in the small-cell carcinoma group (total voxel value 3255) was larger than those in the adenocarcinoma group (total voxel value 1217) and squamous cell carcinoma group (total voxel value 1292).

CONCLUSIONSThe brain resting glucose metabolism in patients with lung cancer shows regional cerebral metabolic reduction and the brain hypo-metabolic changes are related to the histological types of lung cancer.

Adult ; Aged ; Brain ; metabolism ; Female ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; Glucose ; metabolism ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; metabolism ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Positron-Emission Tomography

Chorea is an uncommon clinical manifestation of Sytemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Its pathogenic mechanism has not been clearly clarified. We report a 54-year-old woman with SLE who presented with generalized chorea as an initial manifestation. Fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET revealed increased metabolism in the bilateral putamen. Intravenous and oral administration of steroid markedly improved chorea. Hypermetabolism of the bilateral putamen diminished on follow-up FDG-PET after the disappearance of chorea. This study suggests that chorea in SLE is associated with striatal hypermetabolism.
Administration, Oral ; Chorea* ; Female ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic* ; Metabolism ; Middle Aged ; Putamen

Animals ; Brain ; metabolism ; physiology ; Circadian Rhythm ; physiology ; Female ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; pharmacokinetics ; Heart ; physiology ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL

The aim of this report was to assess the changes in the 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) uptake of brown fats on integrated positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) imaging. The patient presented with an enlargement of the neck lymph nodes, and was suspicious for tuberculous lymphadenitis. A whole body PET/CT imaging was performed, followed by a delayed imaging of the neck and thoracic regions. A visually increased 18F-FDG uptake was taken as a positive finding. A semi-quantitative evaluation was performed using a maximum standardised uptake value (SUVmax), with a cut-off value above 2.5. There were a number of 18F-FDG avid activity areas seen at the supraclavicular, mediastinal, paravertebral and perirenal regions. These are in keeping with the physiological 18F-FDG uptake in brown fat. The differences in SUVmax between the two images ranged from -20 percent to +20 percent. Based on our observations, dual time point imaging may not be a reliable method for assessing the 18F-FDG uptake of brown fat.
Adipose Tissue, Brown ; diagnostic imaging ; metabolism ; Adult ; Female ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; Humans ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; methods ; Tuberculosis, Lymph Node ; diagnostic imaging

OBJECTIVETo study the biologic process of energy metabolism in brain during acupuncture using positron emission tomography (PET) with 18F-2-desoxyglucose (18FDG) for further elucidation of the relationship between acupunctural signal and nerve system.

METHODSElectroacupuncture (EA) was applied on right lateral of a healthy volunteer and paralytic limbs of 4 patients with cerebral infarction at acupoints L14, LI11, ST36 and SP6 using Hans acupoint-nerve stimulator. PET imaging was conducted on the healthy subject or patients with the same posture before and during EA with GE Advance II PET system.

RESULTSPET showed that in the healthy subject, before EA, the glucose metabolism (GM) in bilateral cerebral cortex, bilateral thalamus, basal nuclei and cerebellum was almost symmetrical, but during EA, the GM in contralateral thalamus, contralateral frontal lobe and parietal lobe (motor and sensory area) increased obviously. While in the patients before EA, the GM in the infarcted area was significantly lower than that in the non-infarcted area, as compared with that observed with CT and MRI, it showed a similar figure but with bigger abnormal area. During EA, GM in the infarcted area increased with apparent reduction of size. Increased GM of focal area, widened cerebral cortex and decreased edematous area were shown in patients with larger infarction area. Quantitative analysis revealed evident change in local/total ratio of glucose and increase of GM change rate.

CONCLUSION(1) EA on limb acupoints of healthy subject could induce obvious increase of regional GM in brain and contralateral thalamus, contralateral frontal lobe and parietal lobe (motor and sensory area). (2) EA on acupoints of paralytic limbs could cause increase of GM in contralateral thalamus, contralateral frontal lobe and parietal lobe. Besides, GM also increased in the area with lowered GM before EA, accompanied with shrinkage or disappearance of lesion. (3) Acupuncture could evoke the function of brain cells and raise the GM in them.

Aged ; Brain ; diagnostic imaging ; metabolism ; Cerebral Infarction ; diagnostic imaging ; metabolism ; Electroacupuncture ; Energy Metabolism ; Female ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; Glucose ; metabolism ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Radiopharmaceuticals ; Random Allocation ; Tomography, Emission-Computed

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of needling at Baihui(DU20), Shuigou(DU26) and Shenmen(HT7) on glucose metabolism in different regions of the brain in vascular dementia patients.

METHODSTen patients with vascular dementia were randomized into 2 groups, and the patients in the control group received the treatment with needling in the routine acupoints for hemiplegia (chosen from 6 Yang meridians of the hand and foot), while those in treatment group received needling at 3 additional acupoints, namely Baihui(DU20), Shuigou(DU26) and Shenmen(HT7), which were specific for dementia treatment. All the patients were examined by positron-emission tomography(PET) to detect the glucose metabolism in different brain regions before and after acupuncture treatment by means of semiquantitative analysis of the average values of radioactive count in the brain regions.

RESULTSNeedling at the additional 3 acupoints could obviously enhance glucose metabolism in the bilateral frontal lobes, bilateral thalamus, temporal lobe and lentiform nucleus on the uncompromised side.

CONCLUSIONThe effect of needling at Baihui(DU20), Shuigou(DU26) and Shenmen(HT7) on vascular dementia is closely related to improved cerebral glucose metabolism.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Aged ; Brain ; metabolism ; Dementia, Vascular ; metabolism ; pathology ; therapy ; Female ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; Glucose ; metabolism ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; methods ; Radiopharmaceuticals ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo assess the relationship between the overexpression of facilitative glucose transporter-1 (Glut1) and fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake in patients with primary lung squamous cell carcinoma.

METHODSFrom April 1999 to March 2001, 23 patients with lung squamous cell carcinoma were imaged using FDG positron emission tomography (PET) before surgery. Their maximum and mean standard uptake values (SUVmax and SUVmean) of tumor and SUV of the normal lung (SUVlung) were measured. The expression of Glut1 of all the 23 cases was analysed in paraffin sections using SP immunohistochemistry.

RESULTSAll the 23 tumors tested were Glut1 positive (69 +/- 18)% of tumor cell area was positive and staining intensity was 4.6 +/- 0.7. All tumors of the patients could be detected by FDG-PET. FDG uptake of tumor was higher than that of normal lung (P < 0.01). SUVmax, SUVmean and SUVlung were 8.33 +/- 4.14, 6.10 +/- 3.00 and 0.38 +/- 0.13 respectively. Correlations were found among Glut1 expression and FDG uptake and tumor size (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS(1) Glut1 overexpression is universal in the lung squamous cell carcinoma. (2) SUV was higher in the lung squamous cell carcinoma than that of the normal lung tissue. (3) Glut1 expression and FDG uptake and tumor size appear to be correlated with each other in patients with lung squamous cell carcinoma.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; metabolism ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; metabolism ; Glucose Transporter Type 1 ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Lung Neoplasms ; metabolism ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Monosaccharide Transport Proteins ; analysis