178 research outputs found
The Use of (18)F-FDG-PET/CT in the Diagnostic Workup of CIED Infections: Another Perspective
No full text
[18F]{FDG} hypermetabolisms of the spleen and/or bone marrow: indirect signs of bacteremia
No full textAbstract
Funding Acknowledgements
Type of funding sources: None.
Aim
Recently hypermetabolisms of the spleen and/or bone marrow has been proposed as an indirect sign of infective endocarditis (IE), useful to reinforce the suspicion of IE in the absence of any other infectious, inflammatory, or malignant disease. The purpose of this study is to determine whether hypermetabolisms of the spleen and/or bone marrow are indirect signs of bacteremia rather than of IE, specifically.
Materials and Method
In this work we retrospectively evaluated a series 240 patients who performed between January 2015 to December 2020 [18F]FDG PET/CT (Discovery 710 GE) for suspected infection. In particular, 80 pts had infections from different origin and a positive blood culture (PBC), 80 pts presented localized infection, but negative blood culture (IDBCN) and 80 pts were classified as definite IE (IED) according to the 2015 ESCcriteria. [18F]FDG SUVmax SUVmean in bone marrow, spleen and liver were measured drawind a 14 cm3 regions of interest (ROIs) positioned close to the centers of the spleen and of the right liver lobe, but excluding abscess and/or ischemic lesions., as previously described (Caroline Boursier et al. ; Jordy P.Pijl et al.). BM SUVmax and SUVmean was obtained from ROIs placed on the bodies of each of the five lumbar vertebrae, excluding any damaged vertebra. BM to liver SUV ratios (BLR) and spleen to liver SUV ratios (SLR) were calculated. Kruskal-Wallis tests and the Dunn’s test procedure for multiple comparison were performed using JMP Statistical Discoverytm.
Results
No significant difference among the three groups of SUVmax/mean or in SLR were found. Nevertheless, by grouping patients for the presence of positive blood culture (142 pts) or negative blood culture (98 pts), irrespectively from the final diagnosis a significant associations of SLR was found (p = 0.0070). No significant associations were found with BLR.
Conclusions
Based on our data SLR in seems to represent an indirect signs of bacteremia, rather than IE
Evaluation of [18F]NaF uptake in symptomatic and asymptomatic carotid plaques and assessment of predictive vulnerable plaque patterns
No full textRisultati del follow-up a lungo termine di allograft aortici criopreservati
No full textMentre la maggior parte della chirurgia aortica sta virando inesorabilmente verso l'endovascolare, il trattamento delle infezioni aortiche, sia primarie che secondarie, rimane terra di confronto quasi esclusivo per la chirurgia tradizionale. Sebbene in alcuni casi un approccio conservativo risulti preferibile, la bonifica e sostituzione del segmento aortico interessato rappresentano sicuramente la soluzione più duratura, anche se gravata da alti rischi operatori. Presso il nostro centro, in questi casi, vengonbo utilizzati segmenti aortici da donatore cadavere (allograft) criopreservati che hanno dimostrato di essere più resistenti alle reinfezioni, sebbene la loro durevolezza a lungo termine rimanga dubbia. L'obiettivo di questo studio è valutare l'evoluzione dei suddetti innsesti sul lungo periodo
In-111-DTPA-Biotin uptake by Staphylococcus aureus
No full textThe potential of indium-111 labelled diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid alpha,omega-bis(biocytinamide) (In-111-DTPA-Biotin) as a specific tracer in nuclear medicine imaging of vertebral osteomyelitis has been shown in a large series of consecutive patients. Biocytin is known to serve as a biotin source for a number of different microorganisms and quantitative studies on staphylococci indicated that on a molar basis biocytin seemed to have an activity equal to that of biotin. In this study, we evaluated the possibility of an illicit transport of In-111-DTPA-Biotin in cultures of Staphylococcus aureus on continued incubation for 24 h. Radiolabelled biocytin was prepared as described earlier and the stability and radiochemical purity was assessed in vitro for 24 h after labelling. Our data seem to demonstrate a passive transport of In-111-DTPA-Biotin into the cells of the microrganisms. Nucl Med Commun 31: 994-997 (C) 2010 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Author Correction: Imaging-based representation and stratification of intra-tumor heterogeneity via tree-edit distance
No full textMartina Sollini and Paola Anna Erba were omitted from the author list in the original version of this Article. The Author Contributions section now reads: “L.C. conceived the pipeline, set up the case study, analysed the results, prepared the figures, and wrote the manuscript. M.P. formulated and tuned the pruned tree edit distance, provided the mathematical proofs and the simulation study, and wrote the manuscript. A.R. contributed to implement the patient representation pipeline. M.S. segmented the Prostate Cancer lesions and extracted the radiomic features for all patients in the case study. P.A.E collected the data and enrolled the patients in the clinical study. F.I. supervised the analyses and the conception of the pipeline. L.C., M.P., A.R. and F.I. reviewed and approved the manuscript.” The original Article and accompanying Supplementary Information file have been corrected.</p
Phytate/calcium molar ratio does not predict accessibility of calcium in ready-to-eat dishes
No full textBACKGROUND: Phytic acid (PA), a naturally occurring compound of plant food, is generally considered to affect mineral
bioavailability. The aim of this study was to investigate the reliability of the PA/calcium molar ratio as a predictive factor of
calcium accessibility in composed dishes and their ingredients.
RESULTS: Dishes were chosen whose ingredients were rich in Ca (milk or cheese) or in PA (whole-wheat cereals) in order to
consider a range of PA/Ca ratios (from 0 to 2.4) and measure Ca solubility using an in vitro approach. The amounts of soluble
Ca in composed dishes were consistent with the sum of soluble Ca from ingredients (three out of five meals) or higher. Among
whole-wheat products, bread showed higher Ca accessibility (71%, PA/Ca=1.1) than biscuits (23%, PA/Ca=0.9) and pasta (15%,
PA/Ca=1.5), and among Ca-rich ingredients, semi-skimmed milk displayed higher Ca accessibility (64%) than sliced cheese
(50%) and Parmesan (38%). No significant correlation between the PA/Ca ratio and Ca accessibility was found (P = 0.077).
CONCLUSION: The reliability of the PA/Ca ratio for predicting the availability of calcium in composed dishes is unsatisfactory;
data emphasized the importance of the overall food matrix influence onmineral accessibility
Radiolabelled leucocyte scintigraphy versus conventional radiological imaging for the management of late, low-grade vascular prosthesis infections
No full textIn this study we evaluated the diagnostic performance of Tc-99m-HMPAO-leucocyte (Tc-99m-HMPAO-WBC) scintigraphy in a consecutive series of 55 patients (46 men and 9 women, mean age 71 +/- 9 years, range 50 - 88 years) with a suspected late or a low-grade late vascular prosthesis infection (VPI), also comparing the diagnostic accuracy of WBC with that of other radiological imaging methods. All patients suspected of having VPI underwent clinical examination, blood tests, microbiology, US and CT, and were classified according to the Fitzgerald criteria. A final diagnosis of VPI was established in 47 of the 55 patients, with microbiological confirmation after surgical removal of the prosthesis in 36 of the 47. In the 11 patients with major contraindications to surgery, the final diagnosis was based on microbiology and clinical follow-up of at least 18 months. Tc-99m-HMPAO-WBC planar, SPECT and SPECT/CT imaging identified VPI in 43 of 47 patients (20 of these also showed infection at extra-prosthetic sites). In the remaining eight patients without VPI, different sites of infections were found. The use of SPECT/CT images led to a significant reduction in the number of false-positive findings in 37 % of patients (sensitivity and specificity 100 %, versus 85.1 % and 62.5 % for stand-alone SPECT). Sensitivity and specificity were 34 % and 75 % for US, 48.9 % and 83.3 % for CT, and 68.1 % and 62.5 % for the FitzGerald classification. Perioperative mortality was 5.5 %, mid-term mortality 12 %, and long-term mortality 27 %. Survival rates were similar in patients treated with surgery and antimicrobial therapy compared to patients treated with antimicrobial therapy alone (61 % versus 63 %, respectively), while infection eradication at 12 months was significantly higher following surgery (83.3 % versus 45.5 %). Tc-99m-HMPAO-WBC SPECT/CT is useful for detecting, localizing and defining the extent of graft infection in patients with late and low-grade late VPI with inconclusive radiological findings. Tc-99m-HMPAO-WBC SPECT/CT might be used to optimize patient management
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