• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.142-147
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• 2003

Purpose: Accurate evaluation of metastatic cervical lymph nodes plays a decisive role in the treatment and prognosis of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. The purpose of this study is to investigate the usefulness of FDG-PET for diagnosis of cervical metastasis in the head and neck cancer by comparing with the conventional imaging study. Materials and Methods: The subjects on this study were 30 patients (24 males and 6 females, aged 39 to 76, mean 57.1) diagnosed as pathologic-proven squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck. All patients underwent preoperative FDG-PET, CT(n=27) or MRI (n=3). Their medical records were reviewed retrospectively. Using pathologic reports as a golden standard, the results of FDG-PET were compared with conventional imaging study (CT/MRI) in the evaluation of cervical metastasis. Results: Thirty patients had five different primary sites which were tongue (11), supraglottis (10), glottis (6), hypopharynx (2) and tonsil (1). A total of 40 neck dissections were performed unilaterally in 20 patients and bilaterally in 10 patients. Of these, 16 showed pathologically positive for lymph node metastasis. The sensitivity and specificity of FDG-PET for the diagnosis of cervical metastasis was 75% and 100% respectively, compared with conventional imaging of 56.3% and 95.8%, respectively. The difference of sensitivity was not statistically significant (p=0.453). Of 5 cases with small metastatic node (<1cm), 3 were detected on PET detected correctly but none were detected by CT. Conclusion: FDG-PET was more accurate than conventional imaging study in the diagnosis of metastatic lymph nodes in squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck, especially detection of small metastatic node. FDG-PET might be useful adjunct to conventional image in the preoperative evaluation of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.47-51
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• 2016

Purpose By ingestion of 18F-FDG of kidney of PET/CT during the inspection, if additional examination is required, depending on whether you want to water intake, we want to confirm a change in the rate of decrease of F-18 FDG of the kidney. Materials and Methods The 80 patients without kidney disease were performed PET/CT examination. Device was analyzed after setting the kidney to a three-dimensional region of interest. In patients require additional examination, and inspection after 30 minutes, a PET/CT torso examination after the water of the 500 cc ingested at a time. After the addition of both water intake group and no hydration group of kidney of SUV, it was compared with PET/CT torso scan. Results High and low of the kidney SUV did not show a significant difference in the rate of decrease. Reduction rates of background (BKG) of additional examination was 2.8% and reduction rates of SUV was 49.7% (Hydration) : -6.8% (No hydration), so did show a significant difference. In the image blind test, the average point score of hydration and no hydration was 34.25 : 17.25. Conclusion An undercurrent of 18F-FDG in the kidney at the time of torso examination, it was confirmed that the reduction rate after the addition of water intake is high. It is considered that can be expected to improve the quality of an image due to a decrease in elongation through the kidneys examination with additional fluid intake as needed intake.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.42 no.sup1
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• pp.46-51
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• 2008

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) are the most common mesenchymal neoplasm of the gastrointestinal tract, and can be distinguished from the smooth muscle or neural tumors in approximately 95% of patients by expression of the KIT receptor tyrosine kinase (CD117). GISTs are known to have high malignant potential and none can be labeled definitely as benign. However, GISTs are unresponsive to standard sarcoma chemotherapy, and only complete surgical resection provides chance for cure. Although the imaging modality of choice is enhanced CT scan in patients with GIST, FDG PET can reflect the malignant potential of GIST. Clinical management of patients with GISTs has dramatically changed with the introduction of novel therapeutics, such as imatinib mesylate (Glivec). This has created a need to re-evaluate the existing criteria used to assess treatment response. FDG PET as functional imaging modality proved to be significantly more accurate than CT alone when assessing GIST response to imatinib. And, FDG PET and PET ICT have been found to be highly sensitive in detecting early response, and to be useful in predicting long-term response to imatinib in patients with recurrent or metastatic GISTs.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.145-149
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• 2010

Purpose: Recently, $^{18}F$-FDG Fusion PET which has a high sensitivity for diagnosing cancer is being used for purpose of health examination. This study is to demonstrate that $^{18}F$-FDG fusion PET study is useful for diagnosing an early stage cancer. Materials and Methods: This research has been conducted with 2790 patients visited Seoul National University Hospital Healthcare System (SNUHHS) for $^{18}F$-FDG fusion PET study for a health examination from February, 2004 to December 2008. PET/CT images were acquired from skull base to femur after 1 hour from injecting $^{18}F$-FDG 0.14 mCi/kg to the patients. GEMINI GS (Philips, Netherlands) was used for scanning. Results: From February 2004 to December 2008, $^{18}F$-FDG Fusion PET study was performed for 99,009 patients among all patients who visited SNUHHS and 2,790 patients was performed. Diagnostic rate for malignant cancer was 0.95% for the patients who were not examined by $^{18}F$-FDG Fusion PET study. 1.94% was for the patients who were. The rate of malignant tumor was showed 10% and benign tumor was 90% among 542 patients who showed abnormality in the PET/CT images. Types and rates of malignant tumor showed thyroid cancer: 31.5%, lung cancer: 14.8%, stomach cancer: 9.3%, rectum cancer: 3.7%, breast cancer: 3.7%, metastasis cancer: 16.7%. Nonspecific lymph node in the mediastinum, physiologic uptake in the colon, diffuse mild hypermetabolism in bilateral thyroid gland were shown as a benign tumor. Conclusion: The diagnostic rate of malignant tumor with $^{18}F$-FDG Fusion PET for a purpose of health examination was relatively higher than general medical examination. Consequently, it is superior and useful for applying $^{18}F$-FDG Fusion PET study for health examination.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.110-116
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• 2009

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the usefulness of positron emission tomography (PET)-computed tomography (CT) in the pre-operative staging of gastric cancer. Materials and Methods: Between February 2006 and August 2008, PET-CT and CT were performed on 70 patients diagnosed with gastric cancer by gastrofiberscopic biopsy. The sensitivities, specificities, Positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of PET-CT and CT imaging for the detection of gastric cancer TNM staging were compared. Results: The detection rates for the primary tumor were as follows: PET-CT, 81.4% (57/70); and CT, 42.9% (30/70). For both early gastric cancer (EGC) and advanced gastric cancer (AGC), PET-CT was more accurate than CT in detecting the lesions. As the size of the tumor exceeded 3 cm, the detection rate increased. The sensitivities, specificities, PPV, and NPV of PET-CT for lymph node staging were 55.6%, 81%, 86.2%, and 45.9%, while the sensitivities, specificities, PPV, and NPV of CT were 40.0%, 85.7%, 85.7% and 40%, respectively. One case of multiple liver metastasis and two cases of dual primary cancer (rectal and pancreatic cancers) were detected by PET-CT. PET-CT also had a higher detection rate for all histologic types of primary tumors. PET-CT was more accurate than CT in detecting primary gastric cancer lesions. The detection of nodal metastasis by PET-CT was similar to CT; small-sized tumors or EGC detection rates were not high. However, PET-CT provided additional information to detect distant metastases and dual primary cancers and reduced unnecessary laparotomies to detect peritoneal seeding or carcinomatosis. Conclusion: It would be useful to make a pre-operative diagnosis of gastric cancer and determine treatment if PET-CT were added to other routine pre-operative studies.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.65-75
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• 1999

Purpose: The aim of this study is to demonstrate the feasibility of 2-[fluorine-18] fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (F-18-FDG) whole body scan (FDG W/B Scan) using dual-head gamma camera equipped with ultra high energy collimator in patients with various cancers, and compare the results with those of coincidence imaging. Materials and Methods: Phantom studies of planar imaging with ultra high energy and coincidence tomography (FDG CoDe PET) were performed. Fourteen patients with known or suspected malignancy were examined. F-18-FDG whole body scan was performed using dual-head gamma camera with high energy (511 keV) collimators and regional FDG CoDe PET immediately followed it Radiological, clinical follow up and histologic results were correlated with F-18-FDG findings. Results: Planar phantom study showed 13.1 mm spatial resolution at 10 cm with a sensitivity of 2638 cpm/MBq/ml. In coincidence PET, spatial resolution was 7.49 mm and sensitivity was 5351 cpm/MBq/ml. Eight out of 14 patients showed hypermetabolic sites in primary or metastatic tumors in FDG CoDe PET. The lesions showing no hypermetabolic uptake of FDG in both methods were all less than 1 cm except one lesion of 2 cm sized metastatic lymph node. The metastatic lymph nodes of positive FDG uptake were more than 1.5 cm in size or conglomerated lesions of lymph nodes less than 1cm in size. FDG W/B scan showed similar results but had additional false positive and false negative cases. FDG W/B scan could not visualize liver metastasis in one case that showed multiple metastatic sites in FDG CoDe PET. Conclusion: FDG W/B scan with specially designed collimators depicted some cancers and their metastatic sites, although it had a limitation in image quality compared to that of FDG CoDe PET. This study suggests that F-18-FDG positron imaging using dual-head gamma camera is feasible in oncology and helpful if it should be more available by regional distribution of FDG.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.47-51
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• 2012

PET/CT is taken 1 hour after $^{18}F$-FDG(F-18-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose) injection. However, these would be often delayed for more than 2 or 3 hours due to equipment fault or unexpected situation. In the study, SUV(standardized uptake value) were measured from got image over time according to the parts of the body. As a result, there were great and small decrease in liver(middle of the right hepatic lobe), fat(Lt pelvis), lung (Rt upper lobe), aorta(ascending aorta level) of the body in delayed image, and ${\Delta}$SUVmax was increase of 37% in bone only(L5 vertebral body) of the body. ${\Delta}$SUVmax was increase of 37.6% in lesion, and the contrast degree was greater because of uptake increase in lesion and uptake decrease in the normal body.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.35-39
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• 2009

Purpose: Increased FDG uptake in the bone marrow has been reported in patients taking erythropoietin or granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF). The aim of this study is to investigate the correlation between F-18 FDG uptake in the bone marrow and bone marrow finding, hematological parameters. Materials and Methods: Twenty patients who had diffuse FOG uptake at the bone marrow and received hematological examinations, bone marrow biopsy within 10 days before or after PET/CT were enrolled in this study. Among them, 11 patients were excluded; 4 patients received G-CSF or erythropoietin before PET/CT. Seven patients showed definite pathology in a bone marrow biopsy. The parameters included the measurement of WBC, hemoglobin, platelet and cellularity of the bone marrow. Results: Bone marrow FDG uptake was correlated with a low hemoglobin but not WBC, platelet. Histopathologic findings in marrow biopsies were various: normal finding (n=3), hyperplasia of granulocytic cells (n=2), eosinophilic hyperplasia (n=1), reactive lymphoid nodules (n=1), hypercelluar marrow (n=1), hypocelluar marrow (n=1). All patients except two, showed normal marrow celluarity. Conclusion: FOG uptake by bone marrow correlated with anemia but not WBC, platelet, bone marrow cellularity.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.99-107
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• 2013

The surgical resection was occurred mainly in liver metastasis before the development of radiation therapy techniques. Recently, Radiation therapy is increased gradually due to the development of radiation dose delivery techniques. 18F-FDG PET image showed better sensitivity and specificity in liver metastasis detection. This image modality is important in the radiation treatment with planning CT for tumor delineation. In this study, we applied automatic image segmentation methods on PET image of liver metastasis and examined the impact of image factors on these methods. We selected the patients who were received the radiation therapy and 18F-FDG PET/CT in Korea Cancer Center Hospital from 2009 to 2012. Then, three kinds of image segmentation methods had been applied; The relative threshold method, the Gradient method and the region growing method. Based on these results, we performed statistical analysis in two directions. 1. comparison of GTV and image segmentation results. 2. performance of regression analysis for relation between image factor affecting image segmentation techniques. The mean volume of GTV was $60.9{\pm}65.9$ cc and the $GTV_{40%}$ was $22.43{\pm}35.27$ cc, and the $GTV_{50%}$ was $10.11{\pm}17.92$ cc, the $GTV_{RG}$ was $32.89{\pm}36.8$4 cc, the $GTV_{GD}$ was $30.34{\pm}35.77$ cc, respectively. The most similar segmentation method with the GTV result was the region growing method. For the quantitative analysis of the image factors which influenced on the region growing method, we used the standardized coefficient ${\beta}$, factors affecting the region growing method show GTV, $TumorSUV_{MAX/MIN}$, $SUV_{max}$, TBR in order. The result of the region growing (automatic segmentation) method showed the most similar result with the CT based GTV and the region growing method was affected by image factors. If we define the tumor volume by the auto image segmentation method which reflect the PET image parameters, more accurate and consistent tumor contouring can be done. And we can irradiate the optimized radiation dose to the cancer, ultimately.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.1263-1270
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• 1997

Background : Differentiation of malignity and benignity is crucial for management of solitary pulmonary nodule(SPN). Clinical parameters such as patient's age, nodule size, smoking history, doubling time, typical calcification in X-ray and CT findings have been reported as helpful in this purpose. However, in most cases, these parameters are not conclusive. Glucose metabolism is increased in cancer tissues including lung cancer tissues. After uptake of 2-[F-18]-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose(FDG), the glucose analogue, by cancer cell, FDG is trapped in the cell without further metabolism after phosphorylation. Thus, hypermetabolic focus in FDG-positron emission tomography (PET) imaging suggest malignancy. We evaluated the diagnostic efficacy of FDG-PET imaging in distinguishing malignant and benign SPN. Methods : We evaluated 28 patients with SPN from Jan. 1995 to Jan. 1997. CT scan of chest and whole-body FDG-PET imaging were performed in all patients. Histologic diagnosis was confirmed by transthoracic fine needle aspiration and biopsy, bronchoscopic biopsy and open thoracotomy. Results : Of the 28 SPN's, 22 nodules were malignant and 6 nodules were benign. FDG-PET imaging diagnosed all malignant nodules correctly as positive, and diagnosed 4 of 6 benign nodules correctly as negative. One tuberculous granuloma and one aspergilloma showed hypennetabolic focus and were diagnosed falsely positve with FDG-PET imaging. In the diagnosis of SPN with FDG-PET, sensitivity and specificity were 100% and 66.7%, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 92% and 100%. Conclusion : FDG-PET imaging is highly useful noninvasive diagnostic tool in distinguishing between malignant SPN and benign SPN.