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R Montz

Publications and source records attributed to R Montz.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Right ventricular ejection fraction from equilibrium krypton-81m blood pool scans: a noninvasive predictor of pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Based on the relation between the impedance to right ventricular ejection and ejection fraction of the right ventricle (RVEF) we tested the hypothesis that radionuclide RVEF correlates inversely with pulmonary artery pressure and allows the noninvasive prediction of pulmonary hypertension. A recently developed improved equilibrium right ventricular blood pool imaging technique using ultrashort-lived krypton-81m and simultaneous right heart catheterization were combined for assessment of right ventricular systolic performance in relation to right ventricular loading in a heterogeneous group of cardiopulmonary disorders. The study group included 9 patients with pulmonary artery hypertension secondary to left ventricular dysfunction, 5 with primary pulmonary hypertension, 5 with corrected tetralogy of Fallot, and 10 normal subjects. Linear regression analysis between radionuclide RVEF and simultaneously recorded hemodynamic measurements of right ventricular loading revealed a significant inverse correlation with mean PA pressure (r = -0.87; P less than 0.001), with total pulmonary resistance index (r = -0.81; P less than 0.001) and with pulmonary vascular resistance index (r = -0.78, P less than 0.01). The sensitivity and specificity of a resting RVEF less than 40% to indicate pulmonary hypertension (mean PA pressure greater than 20 mmHg) were 71% and 100%, respectively; positive and negative predictive values were 100% and 80%, respectively. Thus, radionuclide RVEF as a parameter of right ventricular systolic performance is predominantly dependent on right ventricular afterload and has the potential for the noninvasive prediction of pulmonary hypertension in a heterogeneous group of cardiopulmonary disorders.

Humans↗

Tomographic myocardial perfusion scintigraphy in children with Kawasaki disease.

Myocardial infarction and stenotic coronary lesions are serious late complications in children with Kawasaki disease. For the noninvasive assessment of myocardial perfusion, dipyridamole-redistribution 201Tl emission computed tomography (ECT) was performed in seven children (age 2 8/12-8 7/12 yr) 3-20 mo after the acute stage of the disease. In all patients, coronary aneurysms had been demonstrated by cross-sectional echocardiography. The scintigrams of six children showed no significant regional reduction of myocardial thallium uptake. These children had remained asymptomatic since the acute stage of Kawasaki disease. Persistent and transient thallium defects were present in one child with documented myocardial infarction. For this patient, obstruction of corresponding coronary vessels was confirmed by contrast angiography. It is suggested, that 201Tl ECT after dipyridamole-induced vasodilation may be used as a safe alternative to invasive coronary angiography for follow-up investigations in patients with Kawasaki disease.

Child↗

[Noninvasive identification of collateralized myocardium by 201 thallium tomography in vasodilation and redistribution].

Coronary arteriolar vasodilatation may provoke the redistribution of flow to collateral-dependent jeopardized myocardium. To assess the physiologic significance of collateral channels, 80 consecutive postinfarction patients (aged: 58 +/- 8 years) underwent vasodilatation/redistribution thallium-201 tomographic (SPECT) imaging using 0.56 mg dipyridamole/kg body weight. Circumferential profile analysis of redistribution and slow washout in representative left ventricular tomograms provided quantitative evaluation of transient and persistent defects and a separation between a periinfarctional and distant inducible hypoperfusion. Tomographic perfusion data were correlated to subsequent cineangiographic analysis of wall motion and to the extent of collateral circulation between two distinct anatomic perfusion areas, one of which involved the infarct zone. Patients were grouped according to the presence (59%) or absence (41%) of angiographically visible collateral channels to the jeopardized myocardium. In the presence of collaterals, distant reversible defects were larger than in the absence of collaterals (p less than 0.05); the extent of combined periinfarctional and distant redistribution was also larger in collateralized patients (p less than 0.025), whereas the size of the persistent perfusion defect was similar in both groups. In a prospective analysis, the tomographic perfusion pattern of combined periinfarctional and distant ischemia revealed a sensitivity of 85% and a specificity of 78% for the detection of significant collateral circulation in this group of patients. Thus, using the limited collateral flow reserve as a diagnostic tool, vasodilatation/redistribution thallium-201 tomography has some potential for identifying and quantifying collateral-dependent myocardium and may guide diagnostic and therapeutic decision-making.

Aged↗

Development of pulmonary aneurysm in primary pulmonary hypertension: a case report.

Selected cases of severe primary pulmonary arterial hypertension and associated pulmonary vascular disease have been related to the oral ingestion of aminorex fumarate, an anorexigen obviously responsible for an epidemic of primary pulmonary hypertension in Western Europe between 1967 and 1970. This report describes a fifteen year follow-up of a female patient with aminorex fumarate related pulmonary hypertension and the uncommon finding of the formation of an excessive fusiform pulmonary trunk aneurysm in the late stage of the disease process. The progressive clinical course was followed by serial chest x-ray films and repeat right heart catheterization. The diagnosis of a main stem pulmonary artery aneurysm was noninvasively established by two-dimensional echocardiography and confirmed by contrast-enhanced computed tomography and radionuclide blood pool imaging. The patient is alive, thus no histologic correlate of this entity is available at present.

Aminorex↗

[Early noninvasive detection of reperfusion and infarct by intravenous technetium 99m pyrophosphate scintigraphy following thrombolysis].

To determine whether technetium-99-pyrophosphate accumulation immediately after intravenous thrombolysis can serve as a marker of reperfusion and infarct size, 17 patients with acute myocardial infarction were studied. Immediately after thrombolysis 10 mCi of technetium-99m pyrophosphate were injected intravenously. Coronary and left ventricular angiography were then performed in all patients, revealing patent coronary arteries in 13 patients. In all patients, 0.3 and 0.5 mCi of thallium-201 were injected into the right and left coronary artery, respectively, followed by planar scintigraphy. 6 patients with patent coronary arteries and a large thallium-201 defect had massive (more than one third of the cardiac silhouette) pyrophosphate accumulation (group A), whereas 7 patients with a small or no thallium-201 defect in the presence of a patent infarct artery had either focal or no pyrophosphate accumulation (group B). In contrast, 4 patients with an occluded infarct artery showed no acute pyrophosphate uptake despite a large thallium-201 defect (group C). Emission computed tomography confirmed the planar scintigraphic data in group A patients and revealed small thallium-201 defects and focal pyrophosphate accumulation in group B patients with negative planar scintigrams. Global and regional ejection fractions in the infarct area, measured from the acute and follow-up left ventricular angiograms, were higher in group A than in group B and C patients. It is concluded that early intravenous technetium-99m pyrophosphate scintigraphy in patients with acute myocardial infarction undergoing intravenous thrombolysis may serve as an indicator of reperfusion and infarct size.

Adult↗

Immunoscintigraphy and radioimmunotherapy in patients with pancreatic carcinoma.

A new monoclonal antibody (BW 494/32) labeled with 131I or 111In was used for planar and tomographic immunoscintigraphy (IS) in patients with pancreatic carcinoma. It appears that IS for pancreatic carcinoma and its metastases remains a hopeful but still difficult procedure and labeling with 111In is of advantage and results in more convincing images in the case of tumor lesions distant from liver and spleen. Attempts at radioimmunotherapy with 131I-anti-CA 19-9 and with 131I-494/32 in a patient with local recurrence of a pancreatic cancer and with large liver metastases were without success because of extremely poor blood supply to the metastatic tumor masses. Intraarterial infusion of the tracer without or with blockade and perfusion of the common hepatic artery with saline solution could not enhance the tracer uptake compared to that after intravenous infusion. High intratumoral concentrations, however, as achieved e.g. by intratumoral instillation in animal studies, represent a necessary precondition for effective beta-irradiation of tumor lesions.

Adult↗

Radioimmunotherapy of xenografts of human pancreatic carcinomas--intravenous and intratumoral application of 131I-labelled monoclonal antibodies.

The effects of radioimmunotherapy were tested in xenografts of 2 different human pancreatic carcinomas comparing the intravenous and intratumoral application. On principle, intravenous injections of high doses of 131I-anti-CA 19-9 or -BW 494/32 may inhibit tumor growth. In view of the low direct radiation dose (360-2100 rad), however, other factors than direct toxic effects have to be discussed, e.g. systemic effects due to the high whole-body irradiation. Intratumoral application, however, may induce tumor regression or growth inhibition due to the high local irradiation dose. Consequently, this treatment modality might be of clinical value at least in some patients.

Animals↗

[Localization and quantification of ischemic myocardial areas in the postinfarct phase by dipyridamole 201thallium emission computerized tomography].

In 41 patients with a history of an acute myocardial infarction, the location of myocardial ischemia was studied by 201Tl emission computed tomography immediately and 3 h after intravenous dipyridamole. Distant ischemia was distinguished from peri-infarctional ischemia by the presence of transient thallium defects in, or slow thallium washout from myocardium not supplied by the infarct-related coronary artery. Ischemia at a distance occurred in 13 patients and was always accompanied by peri-infarctional ischemia. Peri-infarctional ischemia without distant ischemia was observed in 15 patients. The occurrence of distant ischemia was found to be dependent on the severity of stenosis in non-infarct coronary vessels. 12 (86%) of 14 patients with non-infarct stenosis of 75% or greater had distant ischemia, but only 1 (4%) of 27 patients with a stenosis of less than 75% in another vessel. In the presence of distant ischemia, peri-infarctional ischemia was in 11 patients (85%) associated with collaterals supplying the infarct zone, whereas in 13 (87%) of the patients with peri-infarctional ischemia only, incomplete obstruction of the infarct-vessel was observed. It is concluded that, by the distinction between peri-infarctional and distant ischemia, the presence of a significant stenosis in non-infarct vessels can be non-invasively predicted from tomographic thallium scintigraphy with dipyridamole.

Angina, Unstable↗

Scintigraphic evidence of the "no reflow" phenomenon in human beings after coronary thrombolysis.

To assess whether the absence of new thallium-201 uptake after successful intracoronary thrombolysis reflects a disturbance of myocardial cell function or lack of capillary reperfusion, dual isotope scintigraphic studies with thallium-201 and technetium-99m micro-albumin aggregates were performed in 16 patients with acute anterior myocardial infarction. Intracoronary thallium-201 and technetium-99m scintigraphy performed before intracoronary thrombolysis in 12 of the 16 patients resulted in identical thallium-201 and technetium-99m defect sizes. Immediately after intracoronary thrombolysis, thallium-201 and technetium-99m scintigraphy was repeated in 11 of the 12 patients. In 4 of the 11, the initial thallium and technetium scintigraphic defects were significantly reduced, and in 6 of the 11, they were only slightly reduced; there was no difference in the size of the residual defect as assessed with both radionuclides in all 10 of the 11 patients. In the eleventh patient, there was a significant reduction of the initial technetium-99m scintigraphic defect but no change in the size of the thallium-201 defect. In four other patients, scintigrams were obtained only after intracoronary thrombolysis; these revealed no difference in thallium-201 and technetium-99m defect size. In seven of eight patients restudied 2 to 4 weeks after intracoronary thrombolysis, thallium-201 and technetium-99m defect sizes were identical with those immediately after intracoronary thrombolysis; in the eighth patient there was no difference in thallium-201 and technetium-99m defect size, although such a difference had been present immediately after intracoronary thrombolysis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

Clinical use of ultrashort-lived radionuclide krypton-81m for noninvasive analysis of right ventricular performance in normal subjects and patients with right ventricular dysfunction.

The ultrashort-lived radionuclide krypton-81m, eluted in 5% dextrose from a bedside rubidium-81m generator, was intravenously infused for rapid imaging of the right-sided heart chambers in the right anterior oblique projection adjusted for optimal right atrioventricular separation. Left-sided heart and lung background was minimized by rapid decay and efficient exhalation of krypton-81m, requiring no algorithm for background correction. A double region of interest method decreased the variability in the assessment of ejection fraction to 5%. In 10 normal subjects, 11 patients with pulmonary hypertension, 4 patients with right ventricular outflow tract obstruction and 4 patients with right ventricular infarction, right ventricular ejection fraction determined by krypton-81m equilibrium blood pool imaging ranged from 14 to 76%. The correlation between these values and those determined by cineangiography according to Simpson's rule was close: r = 0.93 for all data points (p less than 0.001), r = 0.92 for studies at rest (p less than 0.001) and r = 0.93 for exercise studies (p less than 0.001). Exercise-related changes in right ventricular function revealed a disturbed functional reserve with pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular infarction, whereas in compensated right ventricular outflow tract obstruction there was a physiologic increase in ejection fraction with exercise (p less than 0.001). Thus, equilibrium-gated right ventricular imaging using ultrashort-lived krypton-81m is a simple, accurate and reproducible method with potential for serial assessment of right ventricular ejection fraction in a variety of right ventricular anatomic and functional abnormalities, both at rest and during exercise. Advantages of this method include an extremely low radiation dose to patients and clear right atrioventricular separation without the need to correct for background activity.

Adult↗

[Localization diagnosis of enlarged parathyroid glands: 201Tl-99mTc-subtraction scintigraphy compared with 5-MHz-sonography].

Fifty patients clinically suspected of having primary hyperparathyroidism were examined by scintigraphy (201Tl-99mTc subtraction) and sonography (5 MHz). In 28 cases, the results of subtraction scintigraphy, and in 26 cases, the results of sonography were checked by operation. In 25 patients there was a solitary parathyroid adenoma and in two, primary hyperplasia. In one patient all four parathyroid glands were normal. Subtraction scintigraphy had a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 98%, while sonography had a sensitivity of 82% and a specificity of 95%. The combination of 201Tl-99mTc subtraction scintigraphy as a functional investigation and sonography as a structural imaging method produced a sensitivity of 96% and is therefore superior to all other methods of localisation for normally situated glands. Diagnostic certainty is reduced by the presence of a nodular thyroid.

Humans↗

Scintigraphic evidence that the right ventricular myocardium tolerates ischaemia better than the left ventricular myocardium.

To study the incidence of right ventricular infarction and the effect of intracoronary thrombolysis on the ischaemic right ventricular myocardium, we performed intracoronary myocardial thallium scintigraphy in 18 patients with complete occlusion of the right coronary artery who underwent intracoronary thrombolysis. In 15 of these patients, intracoronary thallium-201 and technetium-99 m pyrophosphate scintigrams were performed simultaneously. All 18 patients had a right ventricular thallium defect before thrombolysis, and all had new thallium uptake after thrombolysis. 17 out of 18 patients had a left ventricular thallium defect before thrombolysis, but only 10 of them showed new thallium uptake after thrombolysis. 14 out of 15 patients had a left ventricular technetium-99 m pyrophosphate spot after thrombolysis and some diffuse pyrophosphate accumulation in the area of the right ventricle. In one patient pyrophosphate accumulation was found only in the area of the right ventricle. Thus, right ventricular thallium defects were detected by intracoronary thallium scintigraphy in the majority of patients with inferior acute myocardial infarction due to right coronary artery occlusion. Right ventricular thallium defects were always reversible in contrast to left ventricular thallium defects in the same patients, suggesting that right ventricular myocardium tolerates ischaemia better than left ventricular myocardium.

Adult↗

[Bone scintigraphy in assessing the success of chemotherapy in osteosarcoma].

During preoperative chemotherapy regional 99mTc-MDP clearance by tumor and healthy bone as well as tumor blood flow were determined in 13 patients with osteosarcoma. The results were compared to histologic regression grades. After good response (tumor vitality less than 10%) tumor blood flow normalized and regional 99mTc-MDP clearance decreased by 66% (range 56-82%). After poor response to chemotherapy (tumor vitality greater than 10%) tumor blood flow remained increased, whereas regional 99mTc-MDP clearance was unchanged or increased except in one patient. After 4-7 weeks of chemotherapy tumor viability was accurately assessed in 8 of 9 patients (89%) by means of regional 99mTc-MDP clearance. Tumor viability could be evaluated also by simple tumor/non-tumor ratios. A decrease of 99mTc-MDP clearance by more than 20% indicated an effective chemotherapy with a specificity of 80%. After 10-13 weeks of chemotherapy the specificity was improved including the results of tumor blood flow determination.

Adolescent↗

[Immunoscintigraphy and radioimmunotherapy of transplanted pancreatic carcinoma. Experimental animal studies with 131I-labeled monoclonal antibodies against CA 19-9, CEA and CA 125].

The immunoscintigraphic results in 12 human pancreatic carcinomas established on nude mice (Nu-Nu-Balb-C) are reported. The transplanted tumors corresponded to the human cancers concerning histology, grading, immunohistochemistry and secretion of tumor-associated antigens. 131I-labeled monoclonal antibodies against CA 19-9, CEA and CA 125 were used. These antigens are found in the serum of more than 90% of patients with pancreatic carcinoma at the time of first diagnosis. The result show that pancreatic carcinomas are detectable with the antibodies applied here. The quality of the scintigraphic detection depends, among other factors, on the antibody affinity to the tumor, the localization and the size of the tumor. Preliminary results of the studies on radioimmunotherapy of pancreatic cancer with 131I-anti-CA 19-9 indicate that effective absorbed doses in the tumor may be achieved via intravenous application only in cases with a rather high expression of the tumor antigen. But direct instillation into the tumor enables therapeutic radiation doses to the tumor even with moderate affinity and a low whole-body burden, as shown by experiments in 8 mice bearing 4 different human pancreatic carcinomas, 3 with positive and 1 with negative affinity to CA 19-9: the tumor retentions and the effective half-lives of 131I-anti-CA 19-9 were measured after intratumoral (100 microCi/mg tumor) or intravenous (30 and 190 microCi/g body weight) application.

Animals↗

Localization of post-infarction myocardial ischemia by 201Tl emission computed tomography.

In 41 patients with a history of a single myocardial infarction, the location of myocardial ischemia was studied by 201Tl emission computed tomography immediately and 3 h after intravenous dipyridamole. Distant ischemia was distinguished from periinfarctional ischemia by the presence of transient thallium defects in, or slow thallium washout from, myocardium not supplied by the infarct-related coronary artery. Distant ischemia occurred in 13 patients and was always accompanied by peri-infarctional ischemia. Peri-infarctional ischemia without distant ischemia was observed in 15 patients. The occurrence of distant ischemia was found to be dependent on the severity of stenosis in non-infarct coronary vessels. Twelve (86%) of 14 patients with non-infarct stenosis of 75% or greater had distant ischemia, but only 1 (4%) of 27 patients with non-infarct stenosis of less than 75%. In the presence of distant ischemia, peri-infarctional ischemia was in 11 patients (85%) of the patients with peri-infarctional ischemia only, incomplete obstruction of the infarct vessel was observed. It is concluded that, by the distinction between peri-infarctional and distant ischemia, the presence of significant stenosis in non-infarct vessels can be non-invasively predicted from tomographic thallium scintigraphy with dipyridamole.

Coronary Disease↗

[Immunoscintigraphy and SPECT in patients with pancreatic cancer].

Encouraged by reports on immunoscintigraphy of colorectal carcinomas and by the results of our own immunohistochemical and immunoscintigraphic studies in nude mice with transplanted pancreatic carcinoma, we studied the diagnostic potential of immunoscintigraphy with a cocktail of 131I-labeled monoclonal antibodies against the tumor markers CA 19-9 and CEA in 21 patients with pancreatic cancer disease. The results were compared with those of 10 patients suffering from colorectal tumors, 2 cases with bile duct carcinoma and 1 with gastric cancer. Planar scintigraphy with 2-4 views was done repeatedly within 6 days after i.v infusion of 2 mCi of the antibody cocktail. SPECT was performed 3-4 days p.i., recently at 1 or 2 days, too. Primary tumors and metastases in the upper abdominal parts were more difficult to detect and to localise in comparison to colorectal cancer in the lower parts of the abdomen, because of relatively high tracer accumulation in kidneys, liver and spleen. Tumor enhancement in planar scintigrams was, in most cases, not recognized prior to 5 or 6 days p.i., but by SPECT 3 days p.i. or even earlier. Localisation and topographic determination were much easier and more frequent with SPECT, so that tumor detection became more reliable and sensitive. Large tumors could be detected in some cases without tumor marker concentrations in serum being elevated. Immunoscintigraphy of pancreatic carcinomas and of other cancer manifestations in the upper abdomen up to now seems to be of limited diagnostic value, the techniques involved need to be improved.

Adult↗

[Diagnostic accuracy of FT3-RIA and FT4-RIA compared to total T3-RIA and total T4-RIA].

The values of FT3-serum concentration (Amerlex-RIA) from 311 patients and the FT4-values (Amerlex-RIA) from 745 patients were compared with the total T3- and total T4-values with regard to their diagnostic accuracy in hypo-, eu- and hyperthyroidism. The classification of patients into these three diagnostic categories was determined by the majority of available parameters. The analysis of the predictive values demonstrated that determination of free hormones usually guarantees a safe distinction between hypo-, eu- and hyperthyroidism. Taking into account prevalence, the determination of free hormones appears to be superior to that of total hormones.

Evaluation Studies as Topic↗