Purpose: The generator product radionuclide gallium-68( 68 Ga) is widely used for PET/CT imaging agents and the 68 Ga-labeled MAA is an attractive alternative to 99m Tc-labeled MAA. Using a commercially available MAA labeling kit for 99m Tc, we presented a reliable synthesis protocol with a highly efficient, organic solvent-free cationic method in GMP conditions in the Scintomics automated synthesis unit. Methods: The labeling process was performed by incubating for 7 min at 90 ° C in the borax vial containing the generator product68 GaCl 3 MAA-HEPES eluted from the PSH + cartridge with 1.5 mL 5 molar NaCl. Quality control of the final product content was examined, and radiopharmaceutical production was carried out in accordance with GMP guidelines. Results: 68 Ga eluted from the generator was obtained in more than 99% radiochemical purity and efficiency. In this case, the labeling efficiency was found to be >99%. When the results of SEM-EDX analysis in the final product were examined, it was determined that most of toxic metals were no appreciable in the product content. Conclusions The radiochemical and chemical purity of the final product allows direct use without purification steps to remove “free 68 Ga” or other toxic compounds.

OBJECTIVES: Patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) have a high risk of sarcopenia, which is associated with poor prognosis. Skeletal-muscle area and index at the third lumbar (L3) vertebra level (L3MA and L3MI) are recommended for the detection of sarcopenia. However, L3 level is not included in many imaging protocols and there are no data for optimal levels and cutoffs for the diagnosis of sarcopenia in head and neck computed tomography (HNCT) scans. Our aim was to assess the relationship between cervical paravertebral muscle values and L3MI and to investigate optimal level to diagnose sarcopenia on HNCTs. METHODS: Patients with HNC (n=159) who underwent positron emission tomography-CT for tumor staging were retrospectively analyzed. On CT images, paravertebral and sternocleidomastoid muscle areas at second (C2), third (C3), and fourth (C4) cervical vertebrae levels (C2MA, C3MA, C4MA, SCMA) and L3MA were measured. Cross-sectional areas were normalized for stature (muscle area/height square) and muscle index (C2MI, C3MI, C4MI, SCMI, L3MI) values were obtained. Spearman correlation and linear regression analyses were used for assessing correlations. To calculate the diagnostic performance of SCMI, C2MI, C3MI, and C4MI for the diagnosis of sarcopenia with respect to the cutoffs of L3MI, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used. RESULTS: Males had significantly higher muscle areas than females. Although C2MI, C3MI, C4MI, and SCMI values all showed very strong and significant correlation with L3MI (P<0.001). According to the ROC analysis, the best discriminative for sarcopenia was C3MI in males (area under curve [AUC], 0.967) and SCMI in females (AUC, 0.898). CONCLUSION: C2MI, C3MI, C4MI, and SCMI values can be used as alternatives for the diagnosis of sarcopenia in routine HNCT examinations.
Body Mass Index ; Cervical Vertebrae ; Diagnosis ; Electrons ; Female ; Head and Neck Neoplasms ; Head ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Linear Models ; Male ; Neck ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; ROC Curve ; Sarcopenia ; Spine