Background-Interpretation of dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) is subjective and strongly dependent on the skills of the reader. Strain-rate imaging (SRI) by tissue Doppler may objectively analyze regional myocardial function. This study investigated SRI markers of stress-induced ischemia and analyzed their applicability in a clinical setting. Methods and Results-DSE was performed in 44 patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease. Simultaneous perfusion scintigraphy served as a "gold standard" to define regional ischemia. All patients underwent coronary angiography. Segmental strain and strain rate were analyzed at all stress levels by measuring amplitude and timing of deformation and visual curved M-mode analysis. Results were compared with conventional stress echo reading. In nonischemic segments, peak systolic strain rate increased significantly with dobutamine stress (Ϫ1.6Ϯ0.6 s Ϫ1 versus Ϫ3.4Ϯ1.4 s
The fact that fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose ([(18)F]FDG) accumulates in inflammatory lesions as well as in tumours reduces the diagnostic specificity of positron emission tomography (PET) in oncology. The aim of this study was to characterise the uptake of [(18)F]FDG in isolated human monocyte-macrophages (HMMs) in vitro in comparison with that in human glioblastoma (GLI) and pancreatic carcinoma cells (PAN). The purity of HMM preparations was determined by immunohistochemical staining and their functional integrity was assessed by long-term incubation with iodine-131 acetylated bovine serum albumin. [(18)F]FDG uptake in HMMs was quantified as percent of whole [(18)F]FDG activity per well (% ID) or as % ID in relation to total protein mass. [(18)F]FDG uptake in HMMs significantly increased with culture duration, yielding 7.5%+/-0.9% (% ID/100 micro g) at day 14. Stimulation by lipopolysaccharide further enhanced [(18)F]FDG uptake in HMMs by a factor of 2. [(18)F]FDG uptake significantly decreased with increasing glucose concentration in the medium. Radio-thin layer chromatography of intracellular metabolites revealed that [(18)F]FDG was trapped by HMMs mainly as [(18)F]FDG-6-phosphate and [(18)F]FDG-1,6-diphosphate. [(18)F]FDG uptake was in the range of uptake values measured in GLI and PAN. By accumulating [(18)F]FDG in a manner analogous to uptake by tumour cells, activated HMMs may contribute to the [(18)F]FDG uptake values measured by PET in neoplasms.
Transport of 99mTc labelled albumin macroaggregates (MAA) can be used as a substitute for assessing transport of spermatozoa within the female genital tract. As yet, the velocity of tubar MAA transport has not been systematically studied in a large group. Dynamic hysterosalpingoscintigraphy (HSS) was performed after intrauterine instillation of 10-20 MBq 99mTc-MAA in 88 pre-ovulatory women suffering from infertility. They had to have anatomical patency of both tubes and at least one enlarged follicle. The direction and the latency of transport were evaluated. Forty-four per cent of patients exhibited MAA transport only to the dominant follicle, 31% to both ovaries and 16% to the contralateral ovary. In 9% no transport was visible. Fifty per cent of all patients studied exhibited MAA transport to the dominant follicle within 30 s, 75% within 20 min. Transport velocity in women having bilateral or ipsilateral transport did not differ significantly. There was no significant correlation between the size of the follicle and transport velocity. We conclude that in the majority of cases MAA transport occurs within 30 s after instillation. The variation in transport time between 30 s and 20 min suggests that dynamic scintigraphy is, in principle, better suited to a refined analysis of tubar function than static HSS.
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