The ketogenic diet (KD) is a high-fat, adequate-protein, and low-carbohydrate diet that has been used successfully in the treatment of refractory epilepsies for almost 100 years. There has been accumulating evidence to show that the KD may provide a therapeutic benefit in autism spectrum disorders, albeit by a yet-unknown mechanism. We report a case of a 6-year-old patient with high-functioning autism and subclinical epileptic discharges who responded poorly to several behavioural and psychopharmacological treatments. The patient was subsequently placed on the KD due to significant glucose hypometabolism in the brain as revealed by an 18FDG PET. As soon as one month after starting the KD, the patient’s behavior and intellect improved (in regard to hyperactivity, attention span, abnormal reactions to visual and auditory stimuli, usage of objects, adaptability to changes, communication skills, fear, anxiety, and emotional reactions); these improvements continued until the end of the observation period at 16 months on the KD. The 18FDG PET, measured at 12 months on the KD, revealed that 18F-FDG uptake decreased markedly and diffusely in the whole cerebral cortex with a relatively low reduction in basal ganglia in comparison to the pre-KD assessment. It warrants further investigation if the 18FDG PET imaging could serve as a biomarker in identifying individuals with autism who might benefit from the KD due to underlying abnormalities related to glucose hypometabolism.

This review article discusses the utility of 18F-FDG PET/CT in diagnosis and management of vascular disease. We stress usefulness of this method in large vessel inflammation and infection.In our work we based on the literature analysis and clinical cases diagnosed in our institution by use of 18F-FDG PET/CT. The literature exploration was focusing on vascular inflammation and infections and 18-FDG PET. The search was performed on PubMed database and cross referencing.We present the practical review with several images of vascular diseases like: Takayasu arteritis, giant cell arteritis, vascular graft infections, abdominal aortic aneurysm infections and cases of aortitis and periaortitis. From this work inflammation associated with atheromatic process and vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque we excluded.18F-FGD PET/CT is a sensitive metabolic, reliable, non-invasive imaging modality suitable for diagnosis and follow-up of inflammation and infections in vascular system.

The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of radiation synovectomy (RSV) in the treatment of recurrent joint effusions, using 90Y in patients with chosen inflammatory joint diseases. The group of treated patients consisted of 30 people. Qualification for the treatment was based on clinical assessment, three-phase bone scintigraphy (BS3) and biochemical analysis. Intra-articular injection of 90Y was performed. Biochemical analysis was repeated after 48 h, 4 and 24 weeks, whereas BS3 was repeated after 24 weeks. Changes in the second phase of BS3 were assessed visually, using a four-degree scale and in the third phase, semiquantitatively with J/B ratio. The changes in the blood pool phase before RSV were 3.4 +/- 0.6 and after the therapy 2.00 +/- 0.8 (P < 0.001). The J/B ratio was: before RSV 2.58 +/- 08; after treatment 2.09 +/- 0.9 (P < 0.05). RSV is an effective method to treat recurrent effusions in patients with RA and SPA.

The infection of a vascular prosthesis is potentially fatal, and its effective treatment still remains the greatest challenge for vascular surgeons. We present our initial experience using bovine pericardial vascular prostheses to replace infected aortoiliac vascular grafts. Six consecutive patients with infection of the graft were prospec-

Solitary SMM are less common than multiple on F-FDG PET/CT imaging. SMM are usually associated with other metastases and do not affect tumor staging. The cases of isolated SMM are very rare. Nevertheless, in patients with a diagnosis of malignant disease, a solitary, F-FDG avid intramuscular focus should be suspected to represent metastasis.

Our data suggest, that in the chronic stage of stroke, the size and severity of the supratentorial lesion are determinants of CCD, correlating with the degree of cerebellar hypoperfusion.

BACKGROUND: 18F-FDG PET/CT has become an important tool in diagnosis of prosthetic vascular graft infections (PVGI). The aim of the study was to identify the patterns of vascular graft infection in 18F-FDG PET/CT. MATERIAL AND METHODS:The study was performed in 24 patients with vascular graft infection, in 17 patients implanted in an open surgery mode and in 7 patients by endovascular aortic repair (EVAR). Vascular prostheses were evaluated by two visual scales and semi-quantitative analysis with maximum standardized uptake values (SUV max). RESULTS:In the 3-point scale: 23 patients were in grade 1 and one patient was in grade 2. In the 5-point scale: 19 patients were in grade 5 with the highest activity in the focal area, 4 patients were in grade 4 and one patient in grade 3. The visual evaluation of 18F-FDG PET/CT study revealed that peri-graft high metabolic activity was associated with occurrence of morphological abnormalities (n = 21) like gas bubbles and peri-graft fluid retention or without abnormal CT findings (n = 3). The presence of the gas bubbles was linked to higher uptake of 18F-FDG (p < 0.01, SUVmax 11.81 ± 4.35 vs 7.36 ± 2.80, 15 vs 9 pts). In EVAR procedure, the highest metabolic activity was greater than in classical prosthesis (SUVmax 21.5 vs 13).CONCLUSIONS: 18F-FDG PET/CT is a very useful tool for assessment of vascular graft infections. CT findings like gas bubbles, or peri-graft fluid retention were associated with significantly higher glucose metabolism; however, in some cases without anatomic alterations, increased metabolic activity was the only sign of infection.

I-mIBG scintigraphy can detect very early stages of cardiac sympathetic dysfunction. Low values of HMR and high values of WOR suggest an impaired cardiac adrenergic system in patients without any relevant symptoms of heart failure. Low values of HRV may confirm cardiac autonomic neuropathy.