OBJECTIVE: To standardize a method and determine normal values for absolute renal uptake of 99mTc-DMSA in children with normal creatinine clearance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-two children (between 7 months and 10 years of age; mean 4.5 years) without clinical evidence of renal disease were studied using 99mTc-DMSA scintigraphy. Eighteen had normal renal ultrasonography, micturating urethrocystography, creatinine clearance and visual interpretation of the scintigraphy with 99mTc-DMSA. Four children were excluded, one with incomplete creatinine clearance and three due to reduction in the creatinine clearance. Absolute renal uptake of 99mTc-DMSA (DMSA-Abs) was expressed as the fraction of the administered dose retained by each kidney six hours after administration of the radiopharmaceutical. RESULTS: DMSA-Abs was 21.8 ± 3.2% for the right kidney and 23.1 ±3.3% for the left kidney. There was no correlation between renal uptake and the age groups studied, although there was a tendency to an increase in the creatinine clearance with age. CONCLUSION: Normal values of DMSA-Abs can be used as an additional parameter for the initial diagnostic evaluation and during follow-up of renal diseases, mainly when bilateral impairment of renal function is suspected or in a patient with a single functioning kidney (in which renal differential function is of limited value).

Keywords: Renal function, Quantification, 99mTc-DMSA, Children, Scintigraphy

OBJECTIVE: Thyroid tissue stunning after iodine-131 doses is a known cause of low uptake and unsatisfactory response to subsequent therapeutic doses. The objective of this study was to develop an experimental model of postactinic thyroid stunning. METHODS: A total of 63 mice received an equivalent dose of 45 Sv on the thyroid, by iodine-123 irradiation. This dose is similar to the estimated dose for the thyroidal remnants after administration of 185 MBq (5 mCi) of iodine-131 for whole body scans. The thyroid uptake of iodine-131 tracer doses were measured in subgroups of 9 animals, 2, 3, 5, 7, 12 and 26 days after irradiation and compared to a control group. RESULTS: The iodine uptake in the control group was 9.26%. The mean uptake value variation during the studied period was not significant. There was an increase in variance of the measures performed 5 days after irradiation, when 4 of 9 animals presented uptake 60% lower than the control group mean. CONCLUSION: There was not a systematic uptake fall in the animals submitted to the 45 Sv dose, although there was a trend for higher fluctuation in the uptake 5 days after irradiation. These findings may be due to interspecies differences or may indicate that the stunning with such doses may depend on individual characteristics or previous functional thyroid abnormalities, in addition to the radiation effect.

Keywords: Thyroid cancer, Iodine radioisotopes, Thyroidectomy, Follicular adenocarcinoma, Papillary adenocarcinoma, Radionuclide imaging

OBJECTIVE: To assess the cutoff values established by ROC curves to classify ¹⁸F-NaF uptake as normal or malignant. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PET/CT images were acquired 1 hour after administration of 185 MBq of ¹⁸F-NaF. Volumes of interest (VOIs) were drawn on three regions of the skeleton as follows: proximal right humerus diaphysis (HD), proximal right femoral diaphysis (FD) and first vertebral body (VB1), in a total of 254 patients, totalling 762 VOIs. The uptake in the VOIs was classified as normal or malignant on the basis of the radiopharmaceutical distribution pattern and of the CT images. A total of 675 volumes were classified as normal and 52 were classified as malignant. Thirty-five VOIs classified as indeterminate or nonmalignant lesions were excluded from analysis. The standardized uptake value (SUV) measured on the VOIs were plotted on an ROC curve for each one of the three regions. The area under the ROC (AUC) as well as the best cutoff SUVs to classify the VOIs were calculated. The best cutoff values were established as the ones with higher result of the sum of sensitivity and specificity. RESULTS: The AUCs were 0.933, 0.889 and 0.975 for UD, FD and VB1, respectively. The best SUV cutoffs were 9.0 (sensitivity: 73%; specificity: 99%), 8.4 (sensitivity: 79%; specificity: 94%) and 21.0 (sensitivity: 93%; specificity: 95%) for UD, FD and VB1, respectively. CONCLUSION: The best cutoff value varies according to bone region of analysis and it is not possible to establish one value for the whole body.

Keywords: ¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT; ROC curve; Cutoff values; Normal uptake; Malignant uptake

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the use of pulmonary inhalation-perfusion scintigraphy as an alternative method of investigation and follow-up in patients with bronchopleural fistula (BPF). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nine patients with BPFs were treated through the off-label use of a transcatheter atrial septal defect occluder, placed endoscopically, and were followed with pulmonary inhalation-perfusion scintigraphy, involving inhalation, via a nebulizer, of 900-1300 MBq (25-35 mCi) of technetium-99m-labeled diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid and single-photon emission computed tomography with a dual-head gamma camera. RESULTS: In two cases, there was a residual air leak that was not identified by bronchoscopy or the methylene blue test but was detected only by pulmonary inhalation-perfusion scintigraphy. Those results correlated with the evolution of the patients, both of whom showed late signs of air leak, which confirmed the scintigraphy findings. In the patients with complete resolution of symptoms and fistula closure seen on bronchoscopy, the scintigraphy was completely negative. In cases of failure to close the BPF, the scintigraphy confirmed the persistence of the air leak. In two patients, scintigraphy was the only method to show residual BPF, the fistula no longer being seen on bronchoscopy. CONCLUSION: We found pulmonary inhalation-perfusion scintigraphy to be a useful tool for identifying a residual BPF, as well as being an alternative method of investigating BPFs and of monitoring the affected patients.

Keywords: Radionuclide imaging/methods; Radioactive tracers; Bronchial fistula; Septal occluder device; Lung.