1,721,034 research outputs found
Xenotransplantation as a model of integrated, multidisciplinary research
No full textXenotransplantation was proposed a long time ago as a possible solution to the world-wide shortage of human organs. For years, researchers in this field have almost exclusively directed their efforts towards combating the immunological barrier that precluded long-term xenograft survival. Studies have been conducted in both small and large animal models and the most relevant results have been obtained in pre-clincal studies, specifically those utilising the pig-to-nonhuman primate combination. In this context, a better understanding of the immunological mechanisms underlying the rejection of a xenograft have allowed the identification of specific targets of intervention that have resulted in considerable improvements in survival of porcine organs or cells in nonhuman primates. However it has also become apparent that if xenotransplantation has to enter the clinical arena, a multidisciplinary approach will be needed to comprehensively tackle the different issues related to the use of a xenograft to cure human disease.In this regard, the safety, ethics and regulatory aspects of xenotransplantation are currently being aggressively addressed to enable the initiation of xenotransplantation with a favourable risk/benefit ratio
Sentinel node mapping in melanoma of the back: SPECT/CT helps discriminate "True" and "False" in-transit lymph nodes
No full textA 32-year-old man with melanoma on the right paramedian region of the lower back underwent lymphoscintigraphy for radioguided sentinel node (SN) biopsy. Planar imaging showed the presence of 2 sites of radioactivity accumulation corresponding to an axillary SN and to an "in-transit" SN, located on the right side of the upper trunk. A further "hot spot" placed on the left paramedian region of the lower back was identified by planar lymphoscintigraphy. This last finding could be mistaken for another "in-transit" SN, but SPECT/CT demonstrated it was actually a nonspecific radiopharmaceutical accumulation at the level of the right renal pelvis
Sentinel lymph node biopsy in small papillary thyroid cancer. A review on novel surgical techniques
No full textPurpose: Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SNB) in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and negative for clinically neck lymph node metastatic involvement (N0) has emerged as a promising minimally invasive procedure to detect metastatic nodes. Methods: The MEDLINE database was searched via the PubMed interface on 10 January 2018 for the MeSH headings “sentinel lymph node biopsy” and “thyroid carcinoma”. Results: Vital blue dye, radioisotope, and the combination of both techniques are used in PTC patients. These methods and the emerging role of SPECT/CT are discussed in this review. The sentinel lymph node (SLN) identification rates ranged from 0 to 100% for blue dye, 83 to 100% for radioisotopes, and 66 to 100% for the combination of both techniques, respectively. Conclusions: SNB based on radioisotope technique with the use of intraoperative gamma-probe is an accurate and safe method that allows the highest SLN detection rate. There is sufficient evidence to propagate the increasing use of SNB procedure that has the potential to avoid prophylactic lymph node surgery in patients clinically N0
Lymphoscintigraphy in differentiated thyroid cancer
No full textThere is considerable variability in the surgical approach to differentiated thyroid cancer regarding the decision to explore and remove central or central and lateral compartment lymph nodes. Much as sentinel lymph node sampling has improved the decision to remove axillary nodes for breast cancer, vital dye and lymphoscintigraphy with lymph node sampling may direct the surgical approach to differentiated thyroid cance
Choline PET or PET/CT and biochemical relapse of prostate cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Full text linkAIM: The increase of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) after radical retropubic prostatectomy (RP) or external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) is the most sensitive tool for detecting prostate cancer (PCa) recurrence, although this measure cannot distinguish between local, regional, or distant recurrence. The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of 18F-choline and 11C-choline PET or PET/CT in detection of locoregional or distant metastases in PCa.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
Medline, Web of Knowledge, and Google Scholar search was carried out in order to select English-language articles dealing with diagnostic performance of both 18F-choline and 11C-choline PET for the detection of PCa recurrence after RP or EBRT. Articles were included only if absolute numbers of true-positive, true-negative, false-positive, and false-negative test results were available or derivable from the text and regarded local, lymph node, and distant metastases. Reviews, clinical reports, and editorial articles were excluded. All complete studies were re-analyzed thus performing a quantitative analysis.
RESULTS:
From the years 2000 to 2012, we found 53 complete articles that critically evaluated the role of choline PET in restaging patients with PCa recurrence. The meta-analysis was carried out and dealt with 19 selected studies (12 studies for all sites of disease, 3 for lymph node metastases, and 4 for local recurrence), with a total of 1555 patients. The meta-analysis provided a pooled sensitivity of 85.6% (95% CI: 82.9%-88.1%) and pooled specificity of 92.6% (95% CI: 90.1%-94.6%) for all sites of disease (prostatic fossa, lymph nodes, and bone), a pooled sensitivity of 75.4% (95% CI: 66.9%-82.6%) and pooled specificity of 82% (95% CI: 68.6%-91.4%) for prostatic fossa recurrence, and a pooled sensitivity of 100% (95% CI: 90.5%-100%) and pooled specificity of 81.8% (95% CI: 48.2%-97.7%) for lymph node metastases. The heterogeneity ranged between 0.00% and 88.6%. The diagnostic odds ratios were 62.123 (95% CI: 24.783-155.72), 5.869 (95% CI: 1.818-18.946), and 138.57 (95% CI: 11.27-1703.8), respectively, for all sites of disease, local recurrence, and lymph node disease.
CONCLUSIONS:
Choline PET and PET/CT represent high sensitivity and specificity techniques for the detection of locoregional and distant metastases in PCa patients with recurrence of disease. Moreover, a high diagnostic odds ratio was found for the identification of lymph node disease in patients with biochemical recurrence of PCa
Sentinel lymph node biopsy of oral/oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma: Techniques, indications, advantages, and accuracy
No full textNo abstract availabl
In vivo microbial targeting of 99mTc-Labeled Human β-Defensin-3 in a rat model of infection
No full textDifferentiation of infection from aseptic inflammation represents a major clinical issue. None of the commercially available compounds (labeled granulocytes, antigranulocyte antibodies, Ga-citrate, labeled immunoglobulin G, F-FDG) is capable of this differentiation, producing a nonnegligible false-positive rate. Recently, our group reported on a reliable labeling procedure of the antimicrobial peptide human β-defensin 3 (HBD-3) with Tc. The aim of this study was to evaluate in vivo Tc-HBD-3 uptake in a rat model of infection
Differentiation of cardiac thrombus from cardiac tumor combining cardiac MRI and 18F-FDG-PET/CT Imaging
No full textRadiological differentiation of an unknown cardiac masse is often a challenging issue. 18F-FDG-PET/CT imaging was performed to evaluate a left ventricle mass visualized on transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) in a patient with an history of ischemic heart disease. The metabolically inert area on the PET/CT, corresponding to the relatively homogenous hypodensity in the LV, was thought to represent an old organized LV thrombus. Histopathological examination confirmed the imaging diagnosis
Imaging identifieds submanidibular ectopic thyroid tissue
No full textAbstract: The identification of submandibular ectopic normal thyroid in the lateral neck with a coexisting normally located and functional thyroid gland is rare. Ectopic normal thyroid tissue in the midline location is most commonly related to aberrant migration along the thyroglossal duct (ie, lingual thyroid). A 54-year-old man with a 6-month history of visible asymptomatic swelling in the right submandibular region had ultrasonography and Tc-99m pertechnetate imaging
Sentinel lymph node biopsy in breast cancer: a technical and clinical appraisal
Full text linkBreast cancer is the most common type of cancer diagnosed in women worldwide. Regional lymph node status is one of the strongest predictors of long-term prognosis in primary breast cancer. Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) has replaced axillary lymph node dissection as the standard surgical procedure for staging clinically tumor-free regional nodes in patients with early-stage breast cancer. SLNB staging considerably reduces surgical morbidity in terms of shoulder dysfunction and lymphedema, without affecting diagnostic accuracy and prognostic information. Clinicians should not recommend axillary lymph node dissection for women with early-stage breast cancer who have tumor-free findings on SLNB because there is no advantage in terms of overall survival and disease-free survival. Starting from the early 1990s, SLNB has increasingly been used in breast cancer management, but its role is still debated under many clinical circumstances. Moreover, there is still a lack of standardization of the basic technical details of the procedure that is likely to be responsible for the variability found in the false-negative rate of the procedure (5.5-16.7%). In this article, we report the aspects of SLNB that are well established, those that are still debated, and the advancements that have taken place over the last 20 years. We have provided an update on the methodology from both a technical and a clinical point of view in the light of the most recent publications
- …
