No abstract available.
Animals* ; Leptospirosis*

No abstract available.
Animals* ; Leptospirosis*

PURPOSE: The pvrpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of radioactivity quantitation in Tc-99m SPECT by using combined scatter and attenuation correction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cylindrical phantom which simulates tumors (T) and normal tissue (B) was filled with varying activity ratios of Tc-99m. We acquired emission scans of the phantom using a three-headed SPECT system (Trionix, Inc.) witb two energy windows (photopeak window: 126 154 keV and scatter window: 101 123 keV). We performed the scatter correction with dual-energy window subtraction method (k=0.4) and Chang attenuation correction. Three sets of SPECT images were reconstructed using combined scatter and attenuation correction (SC+AC', attenuation correction (AC) and without any correction (NONE). We compared T/B ratio, irnage contrast [(T-B)/(T+B)) and absolute radioactivity with true values. RESULTS: SC+AC images had the highest mean values of T/B ratios. Image contrast was 0.92 in SC+AC, which was close to the true value of 1, and higher than AC (0.77) or NONE (0.80). Errors of true activity by SPECT images ranged from 1 to 11% for SC+AC, 22-47% for AC, and 2 16% for NONE in a phantom which was located 2.4cm from the phantom surface. In a phantom located 10,0cm from the surface, SC+AC underestimated by ?4%, NON.E 40%. However, AC overestimated by 10%. CONCLUSION: We conclude that accurate SPECT activity quantitation of Tc-99m distribution can be achieved by dual window scatter correc.tion combined with attenuation correction.
Radioactivity ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon*

We report a 58-year-old man who developed synchronous gastric non-Hodgkin`s lymphoma (NHL) and renal cell carcinoma. He presented with epigastric discomfort for 2 months. Endoscopic finding of the stomach disclosed a large inegular ulceration with nodular margin on the upper body. Constrast enhanced CT scan of the abdomen showed an ulceration and focal wall thickening in the greater curvature side of stomach, and an enhanced bulging mass in the left kidney incidentally. The tissue obtained by radical proximal gastrectomy and nephrectomy showed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma on stomach and chromophobic type of renal cell carcinoma on kidney. To our knowledge, this is the first report of synchronous gastric NHL and renal cell carcinoma in Korea.
Abdomen ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell* ; Gastrectomy ; Hodgkin Disease* ; Humans ; Kidney ; Korea ; Lymphoma ; Lymphoma, B-Cell ; Middle Aged ; Nephrectomy ; Stomach ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Ulcer

Magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) is clearly more reliable than computer tomography and myelography in radiological diagnosis of lumbar herniated intervertebral disc. Moreover, MRI can also detect degenerative changes of intervertebral discs. The purpose of this study was to determine the utility and accuracy of MRI in conjuntion with the diagnosis of lumbar herniated intervertebral disc and to compare findings with operative findings. Comparisons of operative findings and MRI were done in 133 cases. Each patients had been diagnosed by MRI as having lumbar herniated intervertebral disc. MRI findings included those of spin echo T1-weighted images and T2-weighted images, gradient echo T1-weighted images and T2-weighted images, and gadolinium-DTPA enhancement when needed. In 32 protrusion disc cases diagnosed by MRI, 28 cases were confirmed by operation and four were actually extrusion disc. In 77 cases diagnosed by MRI as extrusion disc, 72 cases were confirmed by operative findings, while 5 cases were found to be protrusion disc. 4 cases of sequestration disc diagnosed by MRI were confirmed by operative findings. Specific dimensions of MRI use yielded the following results: protrusion disc indicated 84.8% in sensitivity, 95% specificity, 87.5% in accuracy; extrusion disc showed 94.7%, 86.5%, 93.5%, respectively; and sequestration disc revealed 100% in all categories. In this study, the average accuracy of lumbar herniated intervertebral disc diagnosed by MRI was 93.6% on average. Accordingly, MRI has shown itself to be a good diagnostic tool for determining anatomical and biological change in lumbar herniated intervertebral disc.
Diagnosis ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Myelography ; Sensitivity and Specificity

PURPOSE: To assess the quantitative accuracy and the clinical utility of 3D volumetric PET imaging with FDG in brain studies, 24 patients with various neurological disorders were studied. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Each patient was injected with 370 MBq of 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose. After a 30 min uptake period, the patients were imaged for 30 min in 2 dimensional acquisition (2D) and subsequently for 10 min in 3 dimensional acquisition imaging (3D) using a GE AdvanceTM PET system. The scatter corrected 3D (3D SC) and non scatter-corrected 3D images were compared with 2D images by applying ROIs on gray and white matter, lesion and contralateral normal areas. Measured and calculated attenuation correction methods for emission images were compared to get the maximum advantage of high sensitivity of 3D acquisition. RESULTS: When normalized to the contrast of 2D images, the contrasts of gray to white matter were 0.75+/-0.13 (3D) and 0.95+/-0.12 (3D SC). The contrasts of normal area to lesion were 0.83+/-0.05 (3D) and 0.96+/-0.05 (3D SC). Three nuclear medicine physicians judged 3D SC images to be superior to the 2D with regards to resolution and noise. Regional counts of calculated attenuation correction was not significantly different to that of measured attenuation correction. CONCLUSION:: 3D PET images with the scatter correction in FDG brain studies provide quantitatively and qualitatively similar images to 2D and can be utilized in a routine clinical setting to reduce scanning time and patient motion artifacts.
Artifacts ; Brain* ; Humans ; Nervous System Diseases ; Noise ; Nuclear Medicine ; Positron-Emission Tomography

PURPOSE: The measurement of radiation absorbed dose is useful to predict the response after I-131 labeled metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) therapy and determine therapy dose in patients with unresectable or malignant pheochromocytoma. We estimated the absorbed dose in tumor tissue after high dose I-131 MIBG in a patient with pheochromocytoma using a gamma camera and Medical Internal Radiation Dose (MIRD) formula. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 64-year old female patient with pheochromocytoma who had multiple metastases of mediastinum, right kidney and periaortic lymph nodes, received 74 GBq (200 mCi) of I-131 MIBG. We obtained anterior and posterior images at 0.5, 16, 24, 64 and 145 hours after treatment. Two standard sources of 37 and 74 MBq of I-131 were imaged simultaneously. Cummulated I-131 MIBG uptake in tumor tissue was calculated after the correction of background activity, attenuation, system sensitivity and count loss at a high count rate. RESULTS: The calculated absorbed radiation dose was 32-63 Gy/ 74 GBq, which was lower than the known dose for tumor remission (150-200 Gy). Follow-up studies at 1 month showed minimally reduced tumor size on computed tomography, and mildly reduced I-131 MIBG uptake. CONCLUSION: We estimated radiation absorbed dose after therapeutic I-131 MIBG using a gamma camera and MIRD formula, which can be peformed in a clinical nuclear medicine laboratory. Our RESULTS suggest that the measurement of radiation absorbed dose in I-131 MIBG therapy is feasible as a routine clinical practice that can guide further treatment plan. The accuracy of dose measurement and correlation with clinical outcome should be evaluated further.
3-Iodobenzylguanidine ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gamma Cameras ; Humans ; Kidney ; Lymph Nodes ; Mediastinum ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Nuclear Medicine ; Pheochromocytoma

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the patterns of voiding dysfunction of stroke patients during rehabilitation. METHOD: We evaluated 53 patients with complaints of voiding dysfunction following the strokes. After the comprehensive history and physical examination, all patients underwent cystometric study and males underwent the transrectal ultrasound. RESULTS: The incidences of detrusor hyperreflexia, detrusor areflexia, and normal finding on the cystometry were 50.9%, 32.1%, and 17.0%, respectively (p<0.05). There was a significantly high incidence of detrusor hyperreflexia in the groups of subcortical lesion, large lesion, and the over 3 months after stroke (p<0.05). However, there was no statistical difference on cystometric findings according to the other characteristics of the stroke such as the age, sex, type of stroke, cognition, aphasia, and diabetes mellitus. The incidences of irritative, obstructive, and mixed symptoms according to the presenting voiding complaints were 49.1%, 32.1%, and 18.9%, respectively (p<0.05). There was no significant statistical difference on the cystometric findings according to the 3 voiding symptom groups as well as none of significant statistical difference on prostate enlargement in males in according to the 3 voiding symptom groups. CONCLUSION: Only with the pattern of voiding, we could not predict the cystometric finding or the presence of bladder outlet obstruction. Thus, we recommend the further studies including cystometry and evaluation of the bladder outlet obstruction for the treatment of voiding dysfunction of stroke patients during rehabilitation.
Aphasia ; Cognition ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Physical Examination ; Prostate ; Reflex, Abnormal ; Rehabilitation* ; Stroke* ; Ultrasonography ; Urinary Bladder Neck Obstruction

Active infective endocarditis, involving native, is often complicated by conduction abnormalities. These conduction disturbances are considered to represent an extension of the infection from the valve to the annulus, and to the surrounding myocardium. We describe a case of a 59-year-old woman who presented with dyspnea due to staphylococcal endocarditis, which was complicated by a complete heart block.
Dyspnea ; Endocarditis ; Endocarditis, Bacterial* ; Female ; Heart Block* ; Heart* ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Myocardium

Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma is one of the most common lymphomas and accounts for about 7% of all newly diagnosed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). The clinical course of MALT lymphoma is relatively indolent and, in the majority of cases (50%), the lymphoma arises within the stomach. Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL), an uncommon variant of extranodal NHL, can affect any part of the neuraxis, including the eyes, brain, leptomeninges, or spinal cord. Herein, we present a rare case of PCNSL, which occurred one year after radiochemotherapy of gastric MALT lymphoma. A 62-year-old man presented with a 3-day history of left facial palsy. One year ago, he underwent antibiotic eradication therapy of Helicobacter pylori, local stomach fractional radiotherapy, and chemotherapy for gastric MALT lymphoma. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a strong enhancing solid mass in the right frontal lobe. The tumor was completely removed, and the histological diagnosis of PCNSL developing from diffuse large B-cell lymphoma was made. Although elucidating the correlation between the first gastric MALT lymphoma and the second PCNSL seemed difficult, we have postulated and discussed some possible pathogeneses, together with a review of literature.
Brain ; Central Nervous System ; Chemoradiotherapy ; Eye ; Facial Paralysis ; Frontal Lobe ; Helicobacter pylori ; Humans ; Lymphoid Tissue ; Lymphoma ; Lymphoma, B-Cell ; Lymphoma, B-Cell, Marginal Zone ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Middle Aged ; Spinal Cord ; Stomach