No abstract available

[en] The tests made on the FRECH 1 electron gun which provided an electron density higher than 500A/cm² with 10KV accelerating voltage and an intensity of 2A are summarized. These results allow the design of the FRECH 2 gun which meets the requirements of the CRYEBIS ion source

[en] This paper describes a clinical work in progress involving a radonized double-blind trial of two I-123-labeled fragments from monoclonal anti-carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) antibodies, Fab and F(ab')₂, for the diagnosis of colorectal carcinoma. Ten patients with 38 known tumoral sites of metastatic colorectal carcinoma are being studied. Multiple-view whole-body images were obtained after 4,24, and 48 hours. Selected patients underwent single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) of critical body regions. Scans were interpreted double blindly by two different investigators. The authors preliminary results suggest that both I-123-labeled Fab and F(ab')₂ fragments of anti-CEA monoclonal antibodies NP-4 seem to be promising for the detection of colorectal tumor lesions

No abstract available

[en] Infection in the marrow of the temporal, occipital, and sphenoid bones is an uncommon, but increasing occurrence. It is usually secondary to infections beginning in the external auditory canal and is caused almost uniformly by the gram negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria. Technetium and gallium scintigraphy help in the early detection of such infections while CT scans demonstrate dissolution of bone in well-developed cases. Headache is the predominant symptom. Dysphagia, hoarseness, and aspiration herald the inevitable march of cranial nerves. We have diagnosed and treated 17 cases of osteomyelitis of the skull base. Although the total mortality rate is 53%, it is now a curable disease. Six of our last 8 patients remain alive, although 1 is still under treatment. Treatment is medical and requires the long-term concomitant intravenous administration of an aminoglycoside and a broad spectrum semisynthetic penicillin effective against the causative organism

[en] In this paper, we are dealing, first with the creation of a dense electron beam, secondly with the collection of this beam. (orig.)

[en] Gastric emptying of solids has been studied for 20 normal volunteers using Tc-99m-sulfur-colloid labeled chicken liver or eggs. Residual gastric activity measured in 15 min intervals for 2 1/2 hrs was used to calculate gastric emptying. The procedure was proposed and is used to examine patients for suspected abnormal emptying. This approach however ties up one gamma camera and one technologist for a period of 2 1/2 - 3 hrs. Furthermore to classify any value more the 1SD below the mean as abnormal includes 16% of normals as abnormally low (false positives). In order to find the pattern of abnormalities and the best time to study patients we analyzed the results of 54 studies performed in patients with a variety of clinical problems. Gastric emptying was measured in 30 min intervals for 2 1/2 hrs after a standard meal of 2 scrambled eggs labeled with 1 mCi of Tc-99m-sulfur-colloid, 2 slices of bread and 300 ml of juice. To choose the point important to observe the authors studied the distribution of values at each time-point to determine when there is the greatest variability from the reported normal. When there is delayed emptying the 2 1/2 hr observation is the best discriminator and when there is accelerated emptying the 60 min observation is the best discriminator. In the group of patients the 150 min observation had no correlation with the age of the patients. It is possible that sampling at a later time could be more discriminatory. The authors propose sampling at 0, 60, and 150 min time as the most informative and cost effective approach to study the solid gastric emptying. The 2SD rather than 1SD below and above the mean should be used as the level to separate normal from abnormal results

[en] Brain death is associated with cessation of blood flow to the brain. Tc-99m brain flow studies are used as a laboratory confirmatory test for the establishment of the diagnosis of brain death. Criteria for the diagnosis of cessation of blood flow to the brain are 1) visualization of carotid artery activity in the neck of the patient and 2) no visualization of activity in the distribution of the anterior and middle cerebral arteries. The authors noticed that in a significant number of patients, although there was no visualization of arterial blood flow to the brain the static images demonstrated faint accumulation of activity in the region of the superior sagittal sinus (SSS). In a four year period 212 brain flow studies were performed in 154 patients for diagnosis of brain death; of them 137 studies (65%) showed no evidence of arterial flow. In 103 out of the 137 studies (75%) there was no visualization of the SSS; in the remaining 34 studies (3l patients) however three patterns of faint activity attributed to partial and or faint visualization of the SSS could be recognized at the midline of the immediate anterior static view: a) linear from the cranial vault floor up b) disk shaped at the apex of the vault and c) disk shaped at the apex tailing caudad. All of the 3l patients in this group satisfied brain death criteria within four days of the last study which showed faint visualization of the superior sagittal sinus. The authors conclude that even in the presence of a faint visualization of the superior sagittal sinus on static post brain flow scintigraphy, the diagnosis of cessation of blood flow to the brain can be made if there is no evidence of arterial blood flow

[en] In this paper we use a well established method for short-term forecasting to predict the amount of hourly Emergency Department (ED) visits in thirteen different hospitals in the south-east area of Tuscany. Our algorithm belongs to the class of similar shape algorithms and perform the forecast in an unsupervised manner. It exploit an historical dataset containing the patient arrival data, in which similar pattern, filtered on the base of a calendar condition, are selected to predict the incoming visit volume for a tunable number of day ahead.

[en] Various radioisotopes conjugated to pyrophosphate analogues have been developed for systemic metabolic radiotherapy. Samarium-153-EDTMP is a 1:1 complex of radioactive Samarium-153 and a Tetraphosphonate (ethylenediamine-tetramethylene phosphonic acid (EDTMP)). Samarium Sm-153-EDTMP has a high affinity for skeletal tissue and concentrates by chemiabsorption in areas of enhanced metabolic activity, where it associates with the hydroxyappetite crystal. Samarium-153 Lexidronam (Quadramet (R)) has been approved for routine use by the FDA. This agent offers several advantages over other agents used for palliating bone pain. Due to its half-life of 46 hours and its beta emissions, a high dose rate can be delivered to regions adjacent to enhanced osteoblastic activity over a short period of time with little residual long term activity being left in the bone marrow. This paper summarizes both animal studies and clinical studies performed with this agent. Special emphasis will be given to the pivotal Phase-III clinical studies and subsequent studies performed since its approval by the FDA. Special considerations regarding appropriate selection of patients, preparation, follow-up of patients and adjustments to the usual recommended dose (1 mCi/Kg (35 Mbq/kg)) will be discussed. Current and future treatment options utilizing Sm-153-EDTMP with other pharmaceuticals appear promising and will substantially extend its use into new areas. In addition, because it also emits a 103 keV gamma ray which makes it suitable for imaging and assessment of biodistribution, dosimetric application are possible in the future