BACKGROUND: Recently technetium-99m sestamibi (99mTc MIBI), which dose not require withdrawal of thyroid hormone, has been used for imaging of thyroid carcinoma. The aim of this study was to determine the clinical usefulness of Tc MIBI scintigraphy after total thyroidectomy for thyroid carcinoma. The results were compared with those of standard 131I scintigraphy. METHODS: One hundred twelve patients with a median age of 44 years (range, 14-76 years) were included in the study. After optimal endogenous thyroid stimulating hormone stimulation (>50 mIU/mL), whole body scintigraphy using 4 mCi of 'I and 20 mCi of Tc sestamibi were done simultaneously. Concomitantly serum thyroglobulin and anti-thyroglobulin antibody levels were checked. If abnormal findings on any of the scintigraphic methods or high levels of thyroglobulin (> 10ng/mL) were detected, diagnostic imaging studies were done to confirm the existence of the disease. And high dose (150-200 mCi) 'I was administered as therapy and then whole body scans were performed again after the therapy. The presence or absence of thyroid cancer was established by pathologic, radiologic, and/or high dose I scan findings. RESULTS: In 11 patients, Tc MIBI scan revealed positive accumulations which were not found on 131I scan, of whom 6 had elevated thyroglobulin levels. In these cases, 5 cases were interpreted to have normal thyroid remnant and 6 cases showed pathologic findings (2 lung, 1 lymph node, 1 lung and lymph node, 1 local recurrent cancer, and 1 false positive accumulation of 99mTc MIBI). Metastasis or residual cancer were confirmed histologically in 1 and radiologically in 4 cases. Negative 99mTc MIBI scans, despite of positive I scans, occurred in 9 patients, of whom 2 had abnormal thyroglobulin levels. Seven cases were interpreted to have thyroid remnant, 2 cases were confirmed to have lung metastasis, and another one was misinterpreted due to breast shadow. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, these results suggest that 99mTc MIBI scan may have similar sensitivity and specificity for the detection of residual or metastatic differentiated thyroid carcinoma. The 99mTc MIBI scan, especially in cases of negative 131I scan despite of abnormal thyroglobulin levels, can be used as a very useful complementary diagnostic tool.
Breast ; Diagnostic Imaging ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Humans ; Lung ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasm, Residual ; Radionuclide Imaging* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Technetium Tc 99m Sestamibi ; Thyroglobulin ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms* ; Thyroidectomy ; Thyrotropin ; Whole Body Imaging

BACKGROUND: Whole body 131I scan is routinely performed in the postoperative evaluation of patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma to detect recurrence and functioning metastasis. Previous reports suggested that posttreatment whole body scan had higher rate of detecting metastatic lesions that were not visualized by pretreatment images. We observed the frequency of discordance of the two scans and analysed the clinical significances. METHODS: Forty-one patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma underwent radioactive iodine-131 whole body scans after administration of diagnostic dose (4 mCi) and then therapeutic dose (100~200 mCi of iodine-131). The median age of the patients was 46.9 +/- 15.7 years (range, 17~76). RESULTS: In 16 of the 41 patients (39.0%), pretreatment scan showed additional uptakes that were not seen in the pretreatment scan. Serum thyroglobulin was elevated in 13 of the 16 patients. Of the 22 patients who had been received radioactive iodine therapy previously, eight patients showed new additional lesions in the therapeutic scans but there was no significance according to the history of radioactive iodine therapy, Addisional uptakes after therapeutic dose were noted in neck area in 9 cases, lung in 2 cases, bone in 4 cases and mediastinum in one case. Diffuse hepatic uptake was definitely seen in 7 cases and there were 2 cases whose scans showed liver uptake without any thyroid uptake. CONCLUSION: Posttreatment whole body scan is more sensitive to detect residual tissues and metastasis compared to the usual pretreatment diagnostic whole body scan, and it is suggested that posttreatment whole body scan should be routinely performed after 'I therapy in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma for exact evaluation.
Humans ; Iodine ; Liver ; Lung ; Mediastinum ; Neck ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Recurrence ; Thyroglobulin ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms* ; Whole Body Imaging

No abstract available.
Prostate* ; Prostatectomy* ; Prostatic Neoplasms*

No abstract available.
Prostate* ; Prostatectomy* ; Prostatic Neoplasms*

BACKGROUND: Pertechnetate ( Tc) has been widely employed for thyroid imaging. While pertechnetate and radioiodide have usually similar results in identifying thyroid nodules, occasionally differences have been noted. We intended to observe that the thyroid nodules which appeared to be hot on pertechnetate and to compare them with the images by radioiodide. METHODS: 'I scan was performed to thirty-eight cases (mean age: 48.9 +/- 13.2) presenting as hot nodule on Tc scan. Thyroid function test and pathologic diagnosis were obtained in all patients. RESULTS: Of the 38 patients, 24 had euthyroidism, 13 had hyperthyroidism, and 1 had hypothyroidism. Thirty patients had adenomatous goiter, 4 papillary carcinoma, 3 Hashimotos thyroiditis, and 1 had HQrthle cell tumor. 28 of 38 patients showed similar images, but the remaining 10 patients(26.3%) revealed discordant images on Tc and 131I scan. Among the concordant cases, 23 had adenomatous goiter, 3 had papillary carcinoma, and 2 had Hashimotos thyroiditis. Among the discordant cases, 7 had adenomatous goiter, 1 had papillary carcinoma, 1 had Hashimotos thyroiditis, and 1 had HQrthle cell tumor. The incidence of malignancy was 10.7% of concordant cases, and 20% of discordant cases and was revealed statistically insignificant (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: We observed higher incidence of malignancy in patients presenting hot nodules on 99mTc scan than ever reported. Fine needle aspiration should be performed to all patients with hot nodules and the 'I scan would not be recommended for further diagnostic study.
Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Carcinoma, Papillary ; Diagnosis ; Goiter ; Humans ; Hyperthyroidism ; Hypothyroidism ; Incidence ; Sodium Pertechnetate Tc 99m ; Thyroid Function Tests ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Nodule ; Thyroiditis

Objective: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) virus has adversely affected people in socioeconomic fields as well as mental health, thereby increasing suicidal attempts. This study analyzes the altered characteristics of drug-poisoned patients visiting the emergency department (ED) during the COVID-19 pandemic era in South Korea. Methods: This was a retrospective observational study using medical records of adults who visited the ED for intoxication. Data obtained were compared before and after the COVID-19 pandemic era. Results: In all, data from 1,102 drug-poisoned patients (586/516 during the pre-/post-COVID-19 periods, respectively) were included in the study. Despite a decrease in total ED visits, the pandemic period saw an increase in the proportion of poisoned patients visiting the ED. Young, female, and psychiatric patients accounted for a significant portion. Months, holidays, time zones, and urbanization showed no difference in the incidence of intoxication. Financial difficulty and couple and family troubles were determined to be frequent causes of intoxication during the COVID-19 pandemic. Comparing the drugs intoxicated, pesticide ingestion was decreased, while the ingestion of other less-fatal drugs was comparatively increased. Although there was an increase in the admission rate of poisoned patients, the severity during admission and outcomes at discharge were not worse after the COVID-19 pandemic era. Conclusion The COVID-19 crisis has seriously impacted people, especially female, young-aged, and psychiatric patients.

It is well known that the murine T helper cell clones are divided by their lymphokine secretory activities. One is the Th-1 cell, producing IL-2 and IFN after stimulation and the other is the Th-2 cell, producing the IL-4 and IL-5. This study was undertaken to evaluate the immunomodulatory properties of the bacterial lipopolysaccharide(LPS) on the lymphokine production in vivo and in vitro. The results were as follows: There were no effects on the lymphokine secretion by the in vitro treatment of the LPS. The in vivo treatment of the LPS decreases the capability of the production of IL-2 and IFN , whereas it increases the capability of IL-4 production. The altered capacity of the lymphokine production was recovered about 2 weeks after the treatment of the LPS. There were no differences on the lymphokine production between E-coli LPS and salmonella LPS. The capacity of the lymphokine production was the same in the treatment of a non-heated LPS or heated-LPS. The lymphokine production of the mice which were desensitized by the long term treatment of the LPS was not different from the control mice. The in vitro treatment of RU486 can block the alterations of the lymphokine production after the treatment of the LPS. In summary, one can tell that the LPS increases the secretion of the IL-4 through the endogenous secretion of the glucocorticoids.
Animals ; Clone Cells ; Glucocorticoids ; Interleukin-2 ; Interleukin-4 ; Interleukin-5 ; Mice ; Mifepristone ; Salmonella ; T-Lymphocytes* ; T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer

No abstract available.

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Adenylyl Cyclases* ; Graves Disease* ; Humans ; Thyroid Gland*