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Biomedical subjects

C Focacci

Publications and source records attributed to C Focacci.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

Nuclear medicine in primary bone tumors.

INTRODUCTION: Conventional radiography is the method of choice to diagnose a primary bone tumor but in many cases it is necessary to integrate it with nuclear medicine scintigraphy using several radionuclides, including 67Ga, 201Tl, 99mTc-MIBI and especially 99mTc-diphosphonates. Recently a new technique has been recently introduced, that is positron emission tomography with 2(18F) fluoro-2 deoxy-D-glucose as radiopharmaceutical. OBJECTIVE: The specific purpose of this work is to show that nuclear medicine bone scanning is a very important method in the detection and diagnostic management of primary bone tumors. DIAGNOSIS, STAGING AND FOLLOW-UP: Three-phase bone scintigraphy, integrated with SPECT, is clinically useful to confirm the radiologic diagnosis of bone tumor. These techniques conveniently related to each other and to radiographic findings, can evaluate the tumor's local aggressiveness, often differentiating benign from malignant lesions, to monitor treatment efficacy, to permit total body scanning for the detection of recurrences. Nuclear medicine diagnostic techniques are not in competition with radiographic tools as CT and MRI which are highly sensitive in detecting even small lesions thanks to their excellent anatomical resolution. In questionable cases, we can integrate radiologic imaging with dynamic studies, in particular with FDG-PET, increasing the specificity of diagnosis and permitting more accurate follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Patient management optimization needs the integration between dynamic nuclear medicine findings and the anatomical patterns provided by conventional radiology to increase imaging sensitivity and specificity. Equipe work is determinant to customize the diagnostic work-up to the individual patient's needs to reduce the cost of patient management avoiding useless examinations.

Bone Neoplasms↗
PubMed1990

[Long-term scintigraphic follow-up study of the hip prosthesis].

The authors emphasize the importance of the bone scan in long-term follow-ups of total hip arthroplasty and describe some technical details of the examination. The changes revealed in the bone scan are confirmed by the operative report. Even though the number of patients in the study was relatively small, the fact that the bone scan taken of patients with cementless total hip replacements revealed no pathological changes is considered significant.

Bone Cements↗
PubMed1989

Scintigraphy in osteoid osteoma: problems related to differential diagnosis.

Scintigraphy is currently the most widely used and most reliable diagnostic instrumental test for the diagnosis of osteoid osteoma. Indications for its use are based on two considerations: 1) the need for preoperative confirmation of a suspected diagnosis based on clinical and radiographic findings; 2) the preoperative differential diagnosis from lesions which, either due to site or to atypical features, can mimic osteoid osteoma and are not easily identified. However, the high sensitivity of the test is associated with low specificity. In order to increase the specificity, the authors use angioscintigraphy and illustrate some cases where this method permitted differential diagnosis with other bone lesions that simulate the clinical and radiographic features of osteoid osteoma.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

[Usefulness of radioisotopic methods in the study of the salivary glands].

The results achieved by dynamic and static salivary gland scintigraphy in 272 patients over a ten year time (January 1976-December 1985) are reported. On the basis of a semi-quantitative assessment of time/activity curves, dynamic studies prove to be the most suitable method for studying functional disorders (phlogosis, facial paralysis, etc.). Harmlessness, easy execution and functional results are the main advantages of radioisotope techniques. Salivary gland scintigraphy has some limits in the study of space occupying lesions (SOL): however, ultrasounds, CT and sialography represent the methods of choice in this field of salivary gland pathology.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1983

Impaired clearance of cholephilic anions in Rotor syndrome.

The behaviour of some cholephilic anions has been studied in three male patients (two of whom are brothers) affected with Rotor syndrome. The unconjugated bilirubin clearance was markedly reduced with impairment of the plasma-liver transfer constant rate (uptake defect). BSP retention at 45 min. was elevated without late rise of the anion. Transport maximum ("Tm") of BSP was slightly reduced; relative hepatic storage capacity of BSP ("S") was significantly impaired. Plasmatic retention of 131-I-Rose Bengal was increased with a diminished hepatic uptake of the compound. The hepatic excretion of IDA-derivatives was impaired, but less for parabutyl-IDA than for diethyl-IDA. It is concluded that in Rotor syndrome there exists an alteration of uptake and storage of several cholephilic organic anions: the alteration is common not only to substances that undergo intracellular conjugation--such as bilirubin and BSP--but also to substances that are not metabolized--such as Rose Bengal and IDA--derivatives. Finally the authors suggest that the Rotor syndrome and so--called "Hepatic storage disease" are the same condition.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

The hepatic excretion of 131I-rose bengal and 99mTc-IDA derivatives in Rotor's syndrome.

Bilirubin kinetics and hepatobiliary excretion of some exogenous anions (BSP, 131I-rose bengal, diethyl and parabutly-IDA labeled with 99mTc) were studied in three patients presenting with Rotor's syndrome. Two were brothers; a nonjaundiced fraternal twin of one of them was also evaluated. The hepatic clearance of the radiopharmaceuticals was impaired in the affected patients but the degree of impairment was different among the tested anions, i.e., maximal for 99mTc-diethyl-IDA and minimal for 131I-rose bengal. Parabutyl-IDA was cleared better than the diethyl derivative. The metabolic derangement seems to be at the level of transfer from plasma to liver and of the hepatic storage, rather than at the level of hepatocyte excretory pathways, as in the case of Dubin-Johnson syndrome.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Functional study with 131I-rose bengal in chronic active hepatitis and nonactive cirrhosis using a three-compartment model.

The authors, using 131I-Rose Bengal, determined the fractional transfer constants of a three-compartmental model in 30 patients divided into two groups (chronic active hepatitis and nonactive cirrhosis) on a histological basis. Other functional indexes were also taken into consideration. In nonactive cirrhosis, the results show a greater impairment of Rose Bengal transfer from plasma to liver. In chronic active hepatitis K32 (fractional transfer coefficient from the second to the third compartment) appears significantly lower than in nonactive cirrhosis. No significant differences have been found for K12 and K03. The best differentiation between the two groups (consistent with histological data in 29 of 30 cases) was obtained by grouping K21, retention index (RI) and SGOT in the discrimination function: L=4.88 K21-0.016RI+0.0034SGOT. The ratio K12/K21 seems meaningful for diagnostic purposes and in the evaluation of the hepatocellular damage in single cases.

Aspartate Aminotransferases↗
PubMed1979

The particular usefulness of radioisotope methods in some benign bone diseases.

The authors have performed radioisotope examinations in 271 patients with various non-neoplastic bone diseases. According to their opinion, early diagnosis and follow-up of therapeutic results are the main characteristics which allow radioisotopes to play an important and irreplaceable role. They particularly emphasize the usefulness of radioisotope methods in femoral aseptic necrosis and Paget's disease.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

[The tolerance of the hip prosthesis evaluted through scintigraphic studies (author's transl)].

The authors assert the usefulness of the scintigraphy in the early diagnosis and/or for the confirmation of the main complications connected with the artroprosthesis of the hip. Such investigation is effective only if it is carried out at a distance of at least six months from the operation and must be completed by clinical, bio-humoral and radiographic tests. This study is based on the observation of 40 cases, of which 20 represent the control group. The isotope used is the Tc99m-pyrophosphate.

Aged↗