Endometriosis is an estrogen-dependent chronic disease affecting about 10% of reproductive-age women with symptoms like pelvic pain and infertility. Pathologically, it is defined by the presence of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity responsible for a chronic inflammatory process. For decades the diagnosis of endometriosis was based on surgical exploration and biopsy of pelvic lesions. However, laparoscopy is not a risk-free procedure with possible false negative diagnosis due to an underestimate of retroperitoneal structures such as ureters and nerves. For these reasons nowadays, the diagnosis of endometriosis is based on a noninvasive approach where clinical history, response to therapy and imaging play a fundamental role. Trans-vaginal ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging are suitable for recognizing most of endometriotic lesions; nevertheless, their accuracy is strictly determined by operators’ experience and imaging technique. This review paper aims to make radiologists aware of the diagnostic possibilities of pelvic MRI and familial with the MR acquisition protocols and image interpretation for women with endometriosis.
Skeletal metastases occur in many patients with different kinds of malignant tumors, especially in advance stage of breast cancer (in 47%-85% of patients), prostate cancer (33-85%), and lung cancer (32%-60%). The management of painful skeletal metastases is complicated and should be carried out by a multidisciplinary approach including conventional analgesics, antitumor therapy (chemo- and hormone therapy), osteoclast-inhibitory agents (bisphosphonates), corticosteroids, external-beam radiotherapy, surgery, and nuclear medicine therapy. The nuclear medicine therapy for palliation of pain from bone metastases is a systemic radionuclide therapy based on the use of radiopharmaceuticals. In several studies the efficacy of bone-seeking radiopharmaceuticals have been demonstrated in terms of pain reduction from diffuse skeletal metastases. In this review, we will summarize the current literature on bone-seeking radiopharmaceuticals for the treatment of painful bone metastases (Phosphorus-32, Strontium-89, Rhenium-186, Rhenium-188, Samarium-153, and Radium-223) and the combination therapy with biphosphonates and chemotherapy.
124Iodine (124I) with its 4.2 d half-life is particularly attractive for in vivo detection and quantification of longer-term biological and physiological processes; the long half-life of 124I is especially suited for prolonged time in vivo studies of high molecular weight compounds uptake. Numerous small molecules and larger compounds like proteins and antibodies have been successfully labeled with 124I. Advances in radionuclide production allow the effective availability of sufficient quantities of 124I on small biomedical cyclotrons for molecular imaging purposes. Radioiodination chemistry with 124I relies on well-established radioiodine labeling methods, which consists mainly in nucleophilic and electrophilic substitution reactions. The physical characteristics of 124I permit taking advantages of the higher PET image quality. The availability of new molecules that may be targeted with 124I represents one of the more interesting reasons for the attention in nuclear medicine. We aim to discuss all iodine radioisotopes application focusing on 124I, which seems to be the most promising for its half-life, radiation emissions, and stability, allowing several applications in oncological and nononcological fields.
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