The Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) recently named its 2010 Image of the Year. The image, picked from among 1,500 studies, shows the potential of hybrid molecular imaging to provide precise information about the location and function of hyperparathyroidism.
Among the reasons this image was chosen for the singular honor was because it highlights today’s cutting-edge molecular imaging research, according to Michael M. Graham, Ph.D, M.D., immediate past-president of the SNM, in a society press release. “This year’s Image of the Year provides an example of a novel imaging presentation, using a combination of SPECT with high resolution CT angiography, which pinpoints the abnormally functioning parathyroid adenoma and the arteries feeding it. With this information, physicians may be able to determine the exact location and size of the abnormal gland and plan minimally invasive surgery that reduces operative time, thus improving patient care,” he said.
In the study accompanying the image, researchers in Japan scanned 31 patients with symptoms of primary hyperparathyroidism using MIBI, combined with SPECT and MDCT. Researchers obtained thin-slice multiplanar reconstruction images of the neck using a 64-row MDCT with contrast enhancement. When the enlarged gland was successfully identified, volume-rendered images of the thyroid and parathyroid with feeding arteries were generated. Then, 2D and 3D fusion images were also obtained using dedicated workstations. The diagnostic value of 3D SPECT/CT fusion images was compared with those by MIBI SPECT alone and by ultrasound. The study showed that the hybrid molecular imaging technique was more effective than single modality scanning alone.
(Source: Press Release)
