PURPOSE: Study on the pathogen and the pathogen-related disease require the information at both cellular and organism level. However, lack of appropriate high-quality antibodies and the difference between the experimental animal models make it difficult to analyze in vivo mechanism of pathogen-related diseases. For more reliable research on the infection and immune-response of pathogen-related diseases, accurate analysis is essential to provide spatiotemporal information of pathogens and immune activity to avoid false-positive or mis-interpretations. In this regards, we have developed a method for tracking Francisella tularensis in the animal model without using the specific antibodies for the F. tularensis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A dual reporter plasmid using GFP-Lux with putative bacterioferritin promoter (pBfr) was constructed and transformed to F. tularensis live vaccine strain to generate F. tularensis LVS (FtLVS)-GFP-Lux for both fluorescence and bioluminescence imaging. For vaccination to F. tularensis infection, FtLVS and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from FtLVS were used. RESULTS: We visualized the bacterial replication of F. tularensis in the cells using fluorescence and bioluminescence imaging, and traced the spatio-temporal process of F. tularensis pathogenesis in mice. Vaccination with LPS purified from FtLVS greatly reduced the bacterial replication of FtLVS in animal model, and the effect of vaccination was also successfully monitored with in vivo imaging. CONCLUSION: We successfully established dual reporter labeled F. tularensis for cellular and whole body imaging. Our simple and integrated imaging analysis system would provide useful information for in vivo analysis of F. tularensis infection as well as in vitro experiments, which have not been fully explained yet with various technical problems.
Animals ; Antibodies ; Fluorescence ; Francisella tularensis* ; Francisella* ; Immunodeficiency Virus, Feline ; In Vitro Techniques ; Methods ; Mice ; Models, Animal ; Plasmids ; Vaccination ; Whole Body Imaging

PURPOSE: The measurement of serum thyroglobulin (Tg) of papillary thyroid carcinoma patients, 12 months after total thyroidectomy and radioactive iodine (RAI) ablation following thyroxine hormone withdrawal (T4-off Tg) or recombinant human thyroid-stimulating hormone stimulation (rhTSH-Tg), is standard method for monitoring disease status. The aim of this study was to find predictive factors for detectable T4-off Tg during follow-up. METHODS: A retrospective review was conducted of 329 patients who underwent total thyroidectomy and RAI ablation between October 2008 and August 2012. Subjects were assigned to high (>1 ng/mL, n = 53) and low (≤1 ng/mL, n = 276) groups, based on T4-off Tg measured 12 months postoperatively. Demographic and clinicopathological characteristics at diagnosis and follow-up were compared between the 2 groups. RESULTS: The low and high T4-off Tg groups differed with respect to tumor size, preoperative Tg, ablative Tg, cervical lymph node metastasis, thyroglobulinemia out of proportion to results of diagnostic whole body scan, and American Thyroid Association 3-level stratification and restratification. Multivariate analysis confirmed that ablative Tg > 1.0 ng/mL (odds ratio [OR], 10.801; P = 0.001), more than 5 cervical lymph node metastasis (OR, 6.491; P = 0.003), and thyroglobulinemia out of proportion (OR, 9.221; P = 0.000) were risk factors. CONCLUSION: Ablative Tg >1.0 ng/mL, more than 5 cervical lymph node metastasis, and thyroglobulinemia out of proportion were independent factors for T4-off Tg >1 ng/mL 12 months postoperative. In low-risk patients without these risk factors, the possible omission of Tg measurements could be considered during follow-up.
Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Iodine* ; Lymph Nodes ; Methods ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors* ; Thyroglobulin* ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms* ; Thyroidectomy ; Thyrotropin ; Thyroxine ; Whole Body Imaging

No abstract available.
Adult ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use ; Benzamides/therapeutic use ; Bone Marrow Examination ; Chemoradiotherapy ; Cyclophosphamide/administration & dosage ; Doxorubicin/administration & dosage ; Humans ; Karyotyping ; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive/*diagnosis/drug therapy/genetics/pathology ; Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse/*diagnosis/pathology/therapy ; Male ; *Neoplasms, Second Primary ; Piperazines/therapeutic use ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Prednisolone/administration & dosage ; Protein Kinase Inhibitors/therapeutic use ; Pyrimidines/therapeutic use ; Time Factors ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Treatment Outcome ; Vincristine/administration & dosage ; Whole Body Imaging/methods

OBJECTIVETo compare the accuracy of whole body diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging (WB-DWI) with that of somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (SRS) in the detection and localization of the lesions in patients with oncogenic osteomalacia (OOM).

METHODSTotally 6 patients with clinically suspected oncogenic osteomalacia were enrolled. All of them underwent WB-DWI and SRS within 2 weeks to evaluate the possible presence of tumors that lead to osteomalacia. Surgical and pathological findings were considered as the gold standard. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were calculated.

RESULTSPathology confirmed the diagnosis of two soft tissue tumors (including 1 angiolipoma and 1 mesenchymal tumor) and one bone tumor of malignant neurofibroma. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy in the identification of lesions in patients with oncogenic osteomalacia were 33.33%, 100%, 66.67% for WB-DWI and 33.33%, 66.67%, 50% for SRS (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONFor adult patients with osteomalacia, WB-DWI and SRS can provide mutually supportive data and be used for identifying potential oncogenic osteomalacia.

Adult ; Bone Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasms, Connective Tissue ; diagnosis ; Receptors, Somatostatin ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Whole Body Imaging ; methods ; Young Adult

Adult ; Aged ; Bone Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; secondary ; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; secondary ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multimodal Imaging ; methods ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Whole Body Imaging ; methods

OBJECTIVE: We prospectively compared whole-body multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) and 3.0T magnetic resonance (MR) images with autopsy findings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Five cadavers were subjected to whole-body, 16-channel MDCT and 3.0T MR imaging within two hours before an autopsy. A radiologist classified the MDCT and 3.0T MRI findings into major and minor findings, which were compared with autopsy findings. RESULTS: Most of the imaging findings, pertaining to head and neck, heart and vascular, chest, abdomen, spine, and musculoskeletal lesions, corresponded to autopsy findings. The causes of death that were determined on the bases of MDCT and 3.0T MRI findings were consistent with the autopsy findings in four of five cases. CT was useful in diagnosing fatal hemorrhage and pneumothorax, as well as determining the shapes and characteristics of the fractures and the direction of external force. MRI was effective in evaluating and tracing the route of a metallic object, soft tissue lesions, chronicity of hemorrhage, and bone bruises. CONCLUSION: A postmortem MDCT combined with MRI is a potentially powerful tool, providing noninvasive and objective measurements for forensic investigations.
Adult ; Aged ; Autopsy/*methods ; Cadaver ; Female ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging/*methods ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prospective Studies ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/*methods ; *Whole Body Imaging

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the validity of whole body diffusion-weighted imaging (WBDWI) for the detection of malignant lesions.

METHODSNine healthy volunteers, 4 postoperative cases of malignant tumor and 16 malignant tumor cases were included in this study. 29 cases underwent whole body diffusion-weighted imaging on GE Signa Excite HD MR scanner within one week after or before PET examination. The images were double-blindly evaluated by two radiologists without the knowledge of the original PET results. Clinical diagnoses of malignant lesions were mainly based on PET results taken as gold standard. The malignant lesions were evaluated according to nine locations: lymph node; central nervous system; lung; liver, gallbladder, pancreas and spleen; digestive tract; kidney and adrenal gland; pelvic; skeleton, and soft tissue of each subject. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predicative value, negative predicative value, Youden's index and likelihood ratio of WBDWI were analyzed.

RESULTSThe images of all the 9 healthy volunteers were normal. 57 malignant lesions were found in the 20 malignant cases by PET, among whom 48 lesions were detected by WBDWI including 2 false positive lesions. Among the 261 locations of 29 cases, the WBDWI examination showed 21 true positive locations, 2 false positive locations and 3 false negative locations. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predicative value, negative predicative value, Youden's index and likelihood ratio of WBDWI were 87.5%, 99.2%, 91.3%, 98.7%, 86.7%, and 103.7, respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe validity of WBDWI is high, and it could be a new whole body imaging technique for staging of malignant tumors.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Female ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Lung Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Stomach Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Whole Body Imaging ; methods ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo assess the reproducibility of whole-body diffusion weighted imaging (WB-DWI) technique in healthy volunteers under normal breathing with background body signal suppression.

METHODSWB-DWI was performed on 32 healthy volunteers twice within two-week period using short TI inversion-recovery diffusion-weighted echo-planar imaging sequence and built-in body coil. The volunteers were scanned across six stations continuously covering the entire body from the head to the feet under normal breathing. The bone apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and exponential ADC (eADC) of regions of interest (ROIs) were measured. We analyzed correlation of the results using paired-t-test to assess the reproducibility of the WB-DWI technique.

RESULTSWe were successful in collecting and analyzing data of 64 WB-DWI images. There was no significant difference in bone ADC and eADC of 824 ROIs between the paired observers and paired scans (P>0.05). Most of the images from all stations were of diagnostic quality.

CONCLUSIONThe measurements of bone ADC and eADC have good reproducibility. WB-DWI technique under normal breathing with background body signal suppression is adequate.

Adult ; Aged ; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Echo-Planar Imaging ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; methods ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Reproducibility of Results ; Respiration ; Whole Body Imaging ; methods

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the value of whole-body diffusion weighted imaging (WB-DWI) on detection of malignant metastasis.

METHODSForty-six patients with malignant tumors underwent WB-DWI examinations between April 2007 and August 2007 in our hospital. Before WB-DWI examination, the primary cancers of all the patients were confirmed by pathology, and the TNM-stage was assessed with conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT). WB-DWI was performed using short TI inversion recovery echo-planar imaging (STIR-EPI) sequence. Abnormal high signal intensities on WB-DWI were considered as metastases. The results of WB-DWI were compared with other imaging modalities. For the assessment of the diagnostic capability of WB-DWI, WB-DWI were compared with CT for demonstrating mediastinal lymph node metastases and lung metastases, and with conventional MRI for demonstrating metastases in other locations.

RESULTSWB-DWI demonstrated 143 focuses, 14 of which were diagnosed to be benign lesions in routine imaging. The number of bone metastases depicted on WB-DWI and routine imaging was 85 and 86; lymph node metastases was 17 and 18; liver metastases was 14 and 14; lung metastases was 4 and 8; and brain metastases was 6 and 8, respectively. WB-DWI failed to detect 12 metastatic lesions including 3 osteoplastic bone metastases, 4 lung metastases, 3 mediastinal lymph node metastases, and 2 brain metastases. Four metastatic lesions including 2 deltopectoral lymph nodes and 2 rib metastases were detected with WB-DWI alone, all of which evolved greatly during clinical follow-up for more than 6 months. WB-DWI had higher detection rates for metastatic lesions in liver, bone, and lymph nodes than those in lung and brain (chi2=30, P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONSWB-DWI could detect most of metastatic lesions that were diagnosed with conventional MRI and CT. The limitations of WB-DWI might be had high false-positive rate and low efficiency in detecting mediastinal lymph node, brain, and lung metastases.

Aged ; Bone Neoplasms ; secondary ; Brain Neoplasms ; secondary ; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted ; methods ; Liver Neoplasms ; secondary ; Lung Neoplasms ; secondary ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Whole Body Imaging ; methods

Bone scan (BS) and serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) concentration are used to detect bone metastasis in malignancy, although whole-body fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography computed tomography (FDG PET/CT) is being used increasingly. But BS is still used for the detection of metastatic bone lesion. So we compared the usefulness of PET/CT, BS, and serum ALP in detecting bone metastases in patients with newly diagnosed lung cancer. The medical record database was queried to identify all patients with a new diagnosis of lung cancer between January 2004 and December 2005, who had a PET/CT, BS, and serum ALP before treatment. We retrospectively reviewed all patients' records and radiological reports. One hundred eighty-two patients met the inclusion criteria. Bone metastases were confirmed in 30 patients. The sensitivity values were 93.3% for PET/CT, 93.3% for BS, 26.7% for serum ALP concentration, and 26.7% for BS complemented with serum ALP concentration. The respective specificity values were 94.1%, 44.1%, 94.1%, and 97.3%. The kappa statistic suggested a poor agreement among the three modalities. FDG PET/CT and BS had similar sensitivity, but PET/CT had better specificity and accuracy than BS. PET/CT is more useful than BS for evaluating bone metastasis. However, in the advanced stage, because of its high specificity, BS complemented with serum ALP is a cost-effective modality to avoid having to use PET/CT.
Aged ; Alkaline Phosphatase/*blood ; Bone Neoplasms/diagnosis/radionuclide imaging/*secondary ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/diagnosis/pathology ; Carcinoma, Small Cell/diagnosis/pathology ; Female ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18/*diagnostic use ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms/*diagnosis/pathology ; Male ; Medical Records ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Radiopharmaceuticals/*diagnostic use ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Technetium Tc 99m Medronate/*diagnostic use ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Whole Body Imaging/methods