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C C Kuni

Publications and source records attributed to C C Kuni.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Liver transplant rejection and cholestasis: comparison of technetium 99m-diisopropyl iminodiacetic acid hepatobiliary imaging with liver biopsy.

To determine whether the scintigraphic evaluation of technetium-99m diisopropyl iminodiacetic acid (DISIDA) uptake and excretion can distinguish among liver transplant patients with biopsy evidence for rejection, cholestasis or neither condition, we reviewed scintigrams and biopsies in 36 patients. There were 76 scintigrams with corresponding biopsies. Uptake and excretion were graded from image data on scales reflecting normal through severely abnormal values. Biopsies were evaluated for findings of cholestasis and rejection. The majority of scintigrams demonstrated normal uptake (60/75, 80%) and delayed excretion (65/76, 85%), which was most marked immediately after transplantation. One-way analysis of variance showed that the mean excretion values significantly differed between patients with normal biopsies and those with cholestasis and/or rejection (P = 0.0003). However, mean uptake scores demonstrated no statistically significant difference between these two groups of patients (P = 0.1). These findings suggest that 99mTc-DISIDA scintigraphy can differentiate between transplants with and without rejection/cholestasis but not between rejection and cholestasis. If 99mTc-DISIDA excretion is normal, rejection and cholestasis are unlikely.

Cholestasis

Aerosol scintigraphy in the assessment of therapy for cystic fibrosis.

Thirteen patients with cystic fibrosis (aged 11 to 32 years) who were hospitalized for exacerbation and who had sputum cultures positive for Pseudomonas organisms were treated initially for 4 days with bronchodilators and physiotherapy followed by the addition of antibiotic (14 days, n = 8) or placebo (14 days, n = 4; 7 days, n = 1). Tc-99m DTPA aerosol scintigraphy was performed on the day before bronchodilators and physiotherapy, on the day before antibiotic or placebo, and on the day after completion of antibiotic or placebo therapy. Scintigrams were evaluated for change in the number of nonventilated segments and change in the number of bronchial deposits of aerosol. Sixty-nine percent of patients showed improvement after bronchodilators and physiotherapy alone. Sixty-two percent showed further improvement after antibiotic or placebo was added; this improvement was independent of whether antibiotic or placebo was administered (P greater than 0.1). These aerosol scintigraphy results failed to demonstrate that the effectiveness of bronchodilators and physiotherapy is enhanced by antibiotics in the treatment of cystic fibrosis exacerbations.

Adult

Ectopic splenomegaly in Felty's syndrome.

A 50-year-old woman with Felty's syndrome, who presented with "menopausal" symptoms, was found to have a large pelvic mass on physical exam. Computed tomography of the pelvis led to an incorrect diagnosis of malignancy, while radionuclide imaging using Tc-99m sulfur colloid confirmed the diagnosis of ectopic splenomegaly.

Choristoma

Quantitative I-123-IMP brain SPECT and neuropsychological testing in AIDS dementia.

We performed I-123-IMP SPECT brain imaging on seven mildly demented AIDS patients and seven normal subjects. In an attempt to detect and quantitate regions of decreased I-123-IMP uptake, pixel intensity histograms of normalized SPECT images at the basal ganglia level were analyzed for the fraction of pixels in the lowest quartile of the intensity range. This fraction (F) averaged 17.5% (S.D. = 4.6) in the AIDS group and 12.6% (S.D. = 5.1) in the normal group (p less than .05). Six of the AIDS patients underwent neuropsychological testing (NPT). NPT showed the patients to have a variety of mild abnormalities. Regression analysis of NPT scores versus F yielded a correlation coefficient of .80 (p less than .05). We conclude that analysis of I-123-IMP SPECT image pixel intensity distribution is potentially sensitive in detecting abnormalities associated with AIDS dementia and may correlate with the severity of dementia as measured by NPT.

AIDS Dementia Complex

Obliterative bronchiolitis following lung transplantation. Diagnostic utility of aerosol ventilation lung scanning and high resolution CT.

A serious and often fatal complication of heart-lung transplantation is the development of obliterative bronchiolitis (OB). Currently the screening for OB is based on symptoms, pulmonary function tests, and transbronchial biopsies. The chest radiographs are often normal with OB. Obliterative bronchiolitis produces luminal narrowing of both bronchioles and bronchi resulting in areas of peripheral consolidation and occasional bronchiectasis. We report a patient in whom a chest film was normal, an aerosol ventilation lung scan was abnormal while a perfusion study was mildly abnormal. Simultaneously, routine CT was essentially normal while high resolution CT with 1 mm thick sections was clearly abnormal and demonstrated areas of consolidation. These imaging modalities detected clear-cut abnormalities at a time when the patient was symptomatic but prior to the development of demonstrable abnormality on chest radiograph.

Adult

Pancreatic transplantation: radiologic evaluation of vascular complications.

Transplantation of the pancreas is an increasingly common therapeutic option for preventing or delaying complications of type I diabetes mellitus. The authors studied the relative roles of various radiologic examinations in diagnosing vascular complications in these grafts including arterial and venous thrombosis, stenosis, and anastomotic leak (the most common vascular factors that necessitate pancreatectomy of the transplant), as defined with pathologic or arteriographic data. The results of 78 scintigraphic flow studies, 40 abdominal and pelvic computed tomographic (CT) scans, 27 sonograms, and eight color Doppler studies were evaluated in 52 patients who received a total of 27 cadaveric and 26 living-donor grafts over a 12-year period. These results were correlated with the data from 45 gross and microscopic pathologic studies and 37 arteriograms to determine their relative value in enabling detection of graft thrombosis and other vascular complications. Scintigraphy, CT, sonography, and color Doppler were all sensitive in detection of generalized graft abnormalities but lacked specificity in defining the underlying etiologic factors.

Adult

Correlation of technetium-99m-DISIDA hepatobiliary studies with biopsies in liver transplant patients.

We compared 76 99mTc-DISIDA hepatobiliary studies with corresponding liver biopsies in 36 liver transplant patients to determine the histopathologic abnormalities that corresponded to scintigraphic abnormalities in uptake and excretion. Uptake was judged normal if the cardiac blood pool was barely visible or invisible on the ten minute image. Excretion was judged normal if images subsequent to the 15-min image showed a subjectively normal rate of decreasing parenchymal intensity. Biopsies were graded subjectively for hepatocyte damage and for findings of cholestasis. Uptake criteria were successful in differentiating high from low hepatocyte damage scores (p less than 0.0001), and excretion criteria were successful in differentiating high from low cholestasis scores (p = 0.002), while uptake criteria were not capable of differentiating high from low cholestasis scores, nor were excretion criteria capable of differentiating high from low hepatocyte damage scores (p's greater than 0.05). These results suggest that scintigraphy can distinguish intrahepatic cholestasis from pure hepatocyte damage.

Biopsy, Needle

Perfusion thallium imaging of type I diabetes patients with end stage renal disease: comparison of oral and intravenous dipyridamole administration.

Eighty patients with type I diabetes and end stage renal disease were prospectively evaluated for coronary artery disease with dipyridamole-thallium-201 scintigraphy and quantitative coronary angiography. Forty patients received dipyridamole orally, and 40 received it intravenously. The prevalence of coronary artery disease was 53%. There were no significant differences in the accuracy of the two dipyridamole tests (sensitivity = 85%, specificity = 85%, accuracy = 85% for the oral group; sensitivity = 86%, specificity = 72%, accuracy = 79% for the intravenous group). Combining the 80 patients into a single group gave a sensitivity of 86%, a specificity of 79%, and an accuracy of 83% for the detection of coronary disease. Although the accuracy of this test in this patient population was similar to that previously reported for other groups, the prevalence of disease was high and resulted in a low predictive value of a negative test (83%).

Administration, Oral

Therapeutic embolization: enhanced radiolabeled monitoring.

Radiolabeling of Ivalon (polyvinyl alcohol sponge) particles permits localization of injected particles during embolization through the use of a portable gamma camera and provides a means to prevent potentially fatal complications such as pulmonary embolization. A more efficient technique of labeling Ivalon particles with technetium-99m sulfur colloid was developed. An increase in labeling efficiency allowed more accurate determination of the distribution of injected Ivalon particles. Scanning electron microscopy demonstrated the stability of the Ivalon particles during this new labeling process. Two patients with arteriovenous malformations underwent therapeutic embolization with radiolabeled Ivalon particles; gamma camera imaging of the lesion and chest was performed throughout the procedure.

Adult

Clinical efficacy of 99mtechnetium mercaptoacetylglycine kit formulation in routine renal scintigraphy.

99mTechnetium mercaptoacetylglycine is a promising new renal radiopharmaceutical undergoing phase III trials in the United States. In a preliminary investigation of the efficacy and safety of mercaptoacetylglycine in 30 adult patients with suspected renal disease we used simultaneous imaging with orthoiodohippurate as the physiological "gold standard". Of these patients 11 had undergone renal transplantation. Factors, such as time to peak renal activity, clearance half-life and regional functional comparison, were similar by orthoiodohippurate and mercaptoacetylglycine imaging. Visual and quantitative analysis of angiograms and renograms was markedly facilitated with the use of mercaptoacetylglycine. Several morphological abnormalities were apparent only during mercaptoacetylglycine evaluation. No adverse effects, changes in vital signs or significant changes in clinical laboratory status were encountered. Since mercaptoacetylglycine combined an excellent technetium image with the pharmacokinetics of orthoiodohippurate, mercaptoacetylglycine may supplant all other agents for routine clinical use.

Adult

Detection of impending pericardial tamponade during skeletal imaging.

Bone imaging using Tc-99m MDP was performed on a 68-year-old man with a newly diagnosed adenocarcinoma of the lung. The image unexpectedly showed increased activity in the heart area. Emergent echocardiography demonstrated impending pericardial tamponade. A malignant pericardial effusion was verified by pericardiocentesis.

Adenocarcinoma

Pancreas transplants: evaluation using perfusion scintigraphy.

To determine the value of scintigraphic perfusion studies in evaluating pancreas transplant patients, we reviewed 56 of these studies in 22 patients who had 27 transplants. Seventeen patients underwent two or more studies. The perfusion studies were performed with 20 mCi (740 MBq) of 99mTc-DTPA injected as a bolus followed by eight to 16 serial 2-sec images and a 500,000-count immediate static image. Images were evaluated for (1) the time and intensity of pancreatic peak radioactivity relative to the time and intensity of the iliac arterial peak; (2) relative pancreatic to iliac arterial intensity on the static image; and (3) size, homogeneity, and definition of the pancreas. Clinical diagnoses at the time of scintigraphy of normal function (n = 36), rejection (n = 13), pancreatitis (n = 6), or arterial thrombosis (n = 1) were based on insulin requirement, urine amylase, serum glucose, serum amylase, response to therapy, cultures, CT, MR, sonography, scintigraphy with 67Ga or 111In-WBCs, percutaneous drainage results, angiography, surgery, and pathologic examination of resected transplants. Three 99mTc-DTPA perfusion studies showed no pancreatic perfusion, four showed decreasing perfusion on serial studies, and five showed progressive loss of definition of the pancreas on serial studies. Of the three patients with no detectable perfusion, one had a normally functioning transplant, one had arterial thrombosis with transplant infarction, and one had severe rejection with minimal function. Decreasing perfusion was associated with rejection in three patients and pancreatitis in one. Decreasing definition was seen in four patients with rejection and one with pancreatitis. We conclude that perfusion scintigraphy is useful, primarily when performed serially, although nonspecific for evaluating pancreas transplants.

Adult

Correlation of Fourier spectral shift-determined hepatic acoustic attenuation coefficients with liver biopsy findings.

We calculated hepatic acoustic attenuation coefficients (ACs) in 13 patients who had liver biopsies and in 3 normal subjects by means of Fourier spectral analysis of reflected ultrasound signals from increasing depths in the liver. The ACs were correlated with estimated percentage area occupied by fat in the liver biopsies; linear regression analysis revealed a correlation coefficient of r = .78 (p less than .001). The presence of fibrosis did not correlate with AC.

Biopsy, Needle

Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the breast: mammographic findings.

Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the breast is a rare lesion. Mammographic findings usually suggest malignancy and include an irregular, lobulated mass with poorly defined borders. Microcalcification is not a prominent finding. Tumor size is important in determining long-term outcome, and patients usually die from distant metastases.

Breast

Technetium-99m sulfur colloid spleen imaging following partial pancreatectomy and splenic artery and vein resection.

We retrospectively studied the records and [99mTc]sulfur colloid (TSC) spleen studies of 38 patients who underwent distal pancreatectomy with splenic artery and vein resection for donation to HLA-compatible relatives. The spleens in immediate postoperative TSC studies were normal in 11% of cases, showed no uptake in 16%, showed diffusely decreased uptake in 50%, and showed focal defects in 26%. Twenty of the patients, all with abnormal initial TSC studies, had repeat studies 2 wk to 3 yr later; 15% showed no change, 35% showed some improvement, and 45% became normal. One of six patients with no TSC uptake required splenectomy 2 days after pancreatectomy for splenic infarction. These data suggest that the spleen usually survives splenic artery and vein resection. Absent splenic TSC uptake raises the possibility of splenic infarction.

Adult