1999.10.31 Nuclear Medicine Pearls
 

FDG PET USEFUL TO DISTINGUISH THYMIC CANCER FROM THYMOMA AND THYMIC CYSTS. The uptake of FDG was found to be higher in thypic cancers as compared to thymomas or thymic cysts. However, both invasive and noninvasive thymomas showed similar uptake. Therefore, FTG PET was found to not be helpful in differentiating between malignant and nonmalignant thymic tumors, but was helpful differentiating between thymic cancer and thymoma. The standardized uptake value in thymic cancer was 7.2, in invasive thymoma 3.8, in noninvasive thymoma 3.0, and in thymic cysts 0.9 Sasaki M et al. J Nucl Med 1999;40:1595.

SOMATOSTATIN RECEPTOR SCINTIGRAPHY USEFUL IN DETECTING BONE METASTASES IN GASTROENTEROPANCREATIC TUMORS. In this study of 145 patients with endocrine gastroenteropancreatic tumors (including Zollinger-Ellison syndrome & carcinoid), somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (SRS) with Indium-111 pentetreotide had a comparable accuracy in detecting bone metastases as did bone scintigraphy with Tc-99m MDP. Diagnosing bone metastases early is critical due to the large influence they have upon treatment decisions, and also due to their high prognostic value for a poor outcome. Lebtahi R et al. J Nucl Med 1999;40:1602.