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Biomedical subjects

B R Line

Publications and source records attributed to B R Line.

44 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Gallium scans for staging small cell lung cancer.

The high incidence of gallium 67 accumulation in lung cencer has made radioistope scanning with this agent useful in identifying the extent of cancer locally. However, we investigated the usefulness of whole-body gallium 67 scanning, compared with physical examination, bone, liver and brain scans, and bone marrow aspirate and biopsy, in detecting metastases outside the chest in 47 patients with small cell lung cancer. In each case whole-body scanning with gallium 67 was inferior to the other methods used to detect extrathoracic tumor deposits.

Bone and Bones↗

Gallium-67 citrate scanning in the staging of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: Correlation and physiologic and morphologic features and bronchoalveolar lavage.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a fatal disorder characterized by interstitial fibrosis and parenchymal inflammation. Current concepts of this disease suggest that the inflammation precedes and probably induces the fibrotic state. To evaluate the extent and relative activity of the inflammatory process, we scanned patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis using gallium-67, a radionuclide known to concentrate in regions of inflammation. To quantify the amount of isotope in the lung parenchyma, the 67Ga-index was developed, a parameter derived from estimates of the size of regional pulmonary uptake, the uptake intensity, and its texture. Evaluation of 67Ga scans in 30 patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and 19 control subjects demonstrated that the 67Ga-index in the group with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis was significantly higher (P less than 0.001) than that in the control group. When compared with lung biopsy morphologic studies in 22 patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, the 67Ga-index correlated with the degree of interstitial cellularity (P less than 0.05) and the degree of alveolar cellularity (P less than 0.005). When compared with cellular analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in 17 patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, the 67Ga-index correlated with the differential percentage of neutrophils (P less than 0.05), but not lymphocytes, eosinophils, or macrophages. These studies indicate that 67Ga accumulates in the lungs of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and is probably associated with the active inflammatory state. The associations of the 67Ga-index with morphologic features and bronchoalveolar lavage analysis suggest that quantitative evaluation of these scans may be useful in staging the activity of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and following responses to therapy.

Adult↗

Ejection fraction by count rate from gated images.

Left-ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF) was determined from ECG-gated images of the cardiac blood pool, by computing the relative change in net LV counts occurring in these images during systole. EFs obtained with this method gave satisfactory interobserver agreement in 20 studies reviewed by three independent observers (average r = 0.95) and also compared favorably with EFs obtained by contrast ventriculography in 39 patients (r = 0.92). The technique appears suitable for use in the evaluation of systolic function in patients with heart disease.

Coronary Circulation↗

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Clinical, histologic, radiographic, physiologic, scintigraphic, cytologic, and biochemical aspects.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a fatal disorder that starts as an alveolitis and progresses to interstitial fibrosis. Correlative morphologic, physiologic, and biochemical studies in 29 patients have shown that the inflammatory process in best followed by serial bronchoalveolar lavage and 67 Ga citrate scanning, and the fibrotic process is best followed by quantitation of the exercise-induced drop in arterial oxygen tension per unit of oxygen consumed. Although biopsies in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis seem to show increased amounts of fibrotic tissue, biochemical studies suggest that the disease is probably one of collagen rearrangement rather than collagen increase. Perhaps becasue of this, peripheral lymphocytes of these patients recognize collagen as "non-self" and, when exposed to it in vitro, produce lymphokines and cell lysis. The fibrotic process is probably irreversible, but the inflammatory and immune processes that cause it may be amenable to therapy if diagnosed early.

Adult↗