SPECT/CT ensures better focus for the surgical exploration, shortens surgical times, and eventually cuts costs when used for localization of parathyroid adenomas.

We report a case of incidental uptake of 99m Tc-methylene diphosphonate in the thyroid in a 62-year-old female with a history of breast cancer treated with quadrantectomy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, who underwent total-body-bone scintigraphy during follow up. Planar scintigraphy was followed by neck SPECT-CT that demonstrated an area of increased tracer uptake in the neck at the left lobe of the thyroid. Neck ultrasonography showed a nodule corresponding to SPECT-CT finding and the ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration documented the presence of papillary carcinoma. The patient underwent total thyroidectomy and ipsilateral lymphadenectomy; histological examination confirmed the presence of a papillary carcinoma and the patient underwent ablation therapy with iodine-131.

The accuracy of the sentinel node (SN) technique in the evaluation of lymph node involvement in melanoma was evaluated in 71 consecutive patients with localized disease and Breslow index >1 mm. Lymphoscintigraphy identified at least one SN in 70 of the 71 patients (98.5%). The following day 69 patients underwent selective SN excision. The SN was identified by portable probe. One hundred and twenty-two lymph nodes were removed, 14 (11.4%) of which were metastatic in 9 patients (13%). No metastases were found in 40 patients with Breslow <2 mm. Eight of the 9 patients with positive SNs underwent lymphadenectomy of the whole basin and in two patients new metastatic nodes were found. At 4-26 months' follow-up 1 of the 60 patients with negative SN (scalp melanoma with Breslow 6.2 mm) developed bilateral cervical metastatic nodes. Two more patients with Breslow 3.7 and 5 mm, respectively, developed liver and lung metastases. The remaining 57 patients are still disease free. Among the 9 patients with tumor-positive SNs, 1 was lost to follow-up, 3 died and 5 are still alive. Our data confirm the clinical reliability of the SN technique in melanoma; we feel the technique should be considered a standard tool in the evaluation of melanoma patients.