Objectives:
The aim of the study was to investigate the role of
18
fluorine-fluorodeoxyglucose (
18
F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) for evaluating the efficacy of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in primary and metastatic liver tumors compared with contrast-enhanced ultrasound examination (CEUS) and to find its place in overall staging and the follow-up diagnostic algorithm.
Methods:
PET/CT examinations were performed 2 months after RFA for 20 patients with a total of 34 liver lesions. CEUS was performed within 10 days after PET/CT, and the results were compared. Seven patients were staged with PET/CT and the others with a contrast-enhanced CT.
Results:
A total of 48
18
F-FDG PET/CT examinations were performed. We observed complete response in 8 patients (40%), 2 patients (10%) had stable disease, one (5%) had partial response, and 9 patients (45%) had progression (including 2 cases with extrahepatic involvement). Compared with CEUS, there was a mismatch in 3 cases. Five patients underwent additional RFA for 7 lesions.
Conclusion:
According to our preliminary data, PET/CT may be a valuable method, with comparable or eventually even better sensitivity than CEUS, for early evaluation of the efficacy of RFA for the treatment of metastatic and primary liver lesions and planning of future treatment. PET/CT might be recommended as a staging method before undergoing RFA of liver lesions for determining the local extent of the disease in the liver in combination with CEUS with an advantage in visualization of extrahepatic involvement. However, more patients need to be investigated in order to demonstrate and confirm the obtained results with certainty.
Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is the third most common endocrine disease after diabetes and osteoporosis. It is more common in women and its prevalence increases with age. PHPT is associated with parathyroid adenoma or cancer or paraneoplastic parathyroid hormone (PTH) production. PHPT can be asymptomatic or present with nephrolithiasis, peptic ulcers, pancreatitis, bone lesions and rarely – as a palpable formation in the cervical area. We present a 73-year-old female patient with cystic cervical lesion with high levels of PTH in the evacuated fluid contents. We discuss the differential diagnosis and the diagnostic algorhythm in cystic cervical lesions.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.