Objectives. We compared five parathyroid scintigraphy protocols in patients with primary (pHPT) and secondary hyperparathyroidism (sHPT) and studied the interobserver agreement. The dual-tracer method (99mTc-sestamibi/123I) was used with three acquisition techniques (parallel-hole planar, pinhole planar, and SPECT/CT). The single-tracer method (99mTc-sestamibi) was used with two acquisition techniques (double-phase parallel-hole planar, and SPECT/CT). Thus five protocols were used, resulting in five sets of images. Materials and Methods. Image sets of 51 patients were retrospectively graded by four experienced nuclear medicine physicians. The final study group consisted of 24 patients (21 pHPT, 3 sHPT) who had been operated upon. Surgical and histopathologic findings were used as the standard of comparison. Results. Thirty abnormal parathyroid glands were found in 24 patients. The sensitivities of the dual-tracer method (76.7–80.0%) were similar (P = 1.0). The sensitivities of the single-tracer method (13.3–31.6%) were similar (P = 0.625). All differences in sensitivity between these two methods were statistically significant (P < 0.012). The interobserver agreement was good. Conclusion. This study indicates that any dual-tracer protocol with 99mTc-sestamibi and 123I is superior for enlarged parathyroid gland localization when compared with single-tracer protocols using 99mTc-sestamibi alone. The parathyroid scintigraphy was found to be independent of the reporter.

Abstract:A 44-year old man with prolonged frozen hip was treated with manipulation under anesthesia and pressure dilatation of the left hip joint. The treatment was successful and after one year the hip was symptomless.

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The vascular anastomoses are usually made with sutures. Some mainly experimental studies have been published about a new method of doing the vascular anastomoses with metal clips. We studied the suitability of vascular closure staple (VCS) clip applier system for making the anastomoses in femoropopliteal and femorotibial arterial reconstruction. During an 11-month period, VCS clips were used in 17 out of 27 patients who were operated due to severe claudication or incipient gangrena of the foot. Altogether 26 anastomoses were made with VCS clips using either great saphenous vein or PTFE graft. The making of anastomosis was easy and reliable. No postoperative bleeding was noticed. All anastomoses were patent 4-6 weeks postoperatively studied by palpation and measured by ankle brachial pressure index (mean 0.96). In Duplex Doppler examination all studied patients had well patent anastomoses on an average 11 months after the operation. With VCS clip applier system, it is possible to do anastomoses in arteriosclerotic arteries like in femoropopliteal reconstructions. This method helps making reliable anastomoses more easily.

Objectives This retrospective study evaluated whether the use of additional anterior 99mTc-sestamibi/123I pinhole imaging improves the outcome of 99mTc-sestamibi/123I subtraction SPECT/CT in parathyroid scintigraphy (PS). Materials and Methods PS using simultaneous dual-isotope subtraction methods and an acquisition protocol combining SPECT/CT and planar pinhole imaging was performed for 175 patients with primary or secondary hyperparathyroidism. All patients who proceeded to surgery with complete postsurgery laboratory findings were included in this study (n = 94). SPECT/CT images alone and combined with pinhole images were evaluated. Results There were 111 enlarged parathyroid glands of which 104 and 108 glands were correctly visualized by SPECT/CT (seven false positives) or SPECT/CT with pinhole (three false positives), respectively. Both sensitivity and specificity were higher with combined SPECT/CT with pinhole than with SPECT/CT alone (97% versus 94% and 99% versus 98%, resp., not significant). The false-positive rate was 6% with SPECT/CT and decreased to 3% using combined SPECT/CT with pinhole. Conclusion 99mTc-sestamibi/123I subtraction SPECT/CT is a highly sensitive and specific protocol for PS. The use of additional anterior pinhole imaging increases both sensitivity and specificity of PS, although this increase is not statistically significant.