Diagnostic value of thallium-201 chloride single-photon emission computerized tomography in differentiating tumor recurrence from radiation injury after gamma knife surgery for metastatic brain tumors

2005 ◽  
Vol 102 ◽  
pp. 266-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toru Serizawa ◽  
Naokatsu Saeki ◽  
Yoshinori Higuchi ◽  
Junichi Ono ◽  
Shinji Matsuda ◽  
...  

Object.The authors assessed the diagnostic value of201Tl Cl single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT), performed after gamma knife surgery (GKS) for metastatic brain tumors in differentiating tumor recurrence from radiation injury.Methods.Of 6503 metastatic brain tumors treated with GKS,201Tl SPECT was required in 72 to differentiate between tumor recurrence and radiation injury. When the Tl index was greater than 5, the lesion was diagnosed as a tumor recurrence. When the index was < 3.0 it was called radiation injury. In cases with a Tl index between 3 and 5,201Tl SPECT was repeated once per month until the Tl index was greater than 5 or less than 3. If the Tl index fluctuated between 3 and 5 for 2 months, the lesion was diagnosed as radiation injury. The final diagnosis was based on histological examination or clinical course.The sensitivity of the method was 91%; thus201Tl SPECT is effective for differentiating between tumor recurrence and radiation injury in metastatic brain tumors treated with GKS. Caution is necessary, however, for the following reasons: 1) simple interinstitutional comparisons of Tl indices are not possible because measurement methods are institute specific; 2) steroid administration decreases the Tl index to a variable degree; and 3) a severe radiation injury lesion, as is often seen after repeated GKS or very high dose GKS, may have a Tl index greater than 5.Conclusions.Used with critical insight201Tl Cl SPECT can be useful in distinguishing between tumor regrowth and radiation necrosis in patients with cerebral metastases.

2005 ◽  
Vol 102 (Special_Supplement) ◽  
pp. 266-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toru Serizawa ◽  
Naokatsu Saeki ◽  
Yoshinori Higuchi ◽  
Junichi Ono ◽  
Shinji Matsuda ◽  
...  

Object. The authors assessed the diagnostic value of 201Tl Cl single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT), performed after gamma knife surgery (GKS) for metastatic brain tumors in differentiating tumor recurrence from radiation injury. Methods. Of 6503 metastatic brain tumors treated with GKS, 201Tl SPECT was required in 72 to differentiate between tumor recurrence and radiation injury. When the Tl index was greater than 5, the lesion was diagnosed as a tumor recurrence. When the index was < 3.0 it was called radiation injury. In cases with a Tl index between 3 and 5, 201Tl SPECT was repeated once per month until the Tl index was greater than 5 or less than 3. If the Tl index fluctuated between 3 and 5 for 2 months, the lesion was diagnosed as radiation injury. The final diagnosis was based on histological examination or clinical course. The sensitivity of the method was 91%; thus 201Tl SPECT is effective for differentiating between tumor recurrence and radiation injury in metastatic brain tumors treated with GKS. Caution is necessary, however, for the following reasons: 1) simple interinstitutional comparisons of Tl indices are not possible because measurement methods are institute specific; 2) steroid administration decreases the Tl index to a variable degree; and 3) a severe radiation injury lesion, as is often seen after repeated GKS or very high dose GKS, may have a Tl index greater than 5. Conclusions. Used with critical insight 201Tl Cl SPECT can be useful in distinguishing between tumor regrowth and radiation necrosis in patients with cerebral metastases.


2004 ◽  
Vol 100 (5) ◽  
pp. 835-841 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teruo Kimura ◽  
Kazuhiro Sako ◽  
Kunio Tanaka ◽  
Takumi Gotoh ◽  
Hiroshi Yoshida ◽  
...  

Object. The goal of this study was to investigate the usefulness of proton (1H) magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy to evaluate the response of metastatic brain tumors to stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) in comparison with Gd-enhanced MR imaging and single-photon emission computerized tomography with administration of thallium-201 chloride (201TlCl-SPECT). Methods. Forty patients with a total of 47 metastatic brain tumors were evaluated. The primary lesion was identified in all cases. Stereotactic radiosurgery was effective in 37 lesions. All patients were examined using Gd-enhanced MR imaging before and after SRS. Thalium-201 chloride was administered to 27 patients with 34 tumors and SPECT images were obtained. Proton MR spectroscopy was performed in 36 patients who harbored 43 tumors. On Gd-enhanced MR images, a decrease in the volume of the Gd-enhanced lesion and a change in the enhanced effect in the lesion after treatment were recognized as showing the effectiveness of SRS between 1 and 3 months or more (mean 8.54 ± 3.58 weeks). In 201TlCl-SPECT studies, the ratio of lesion to normal brain decreased from 2 weeks to 2 months (mean 5.03 ± 2.77 weeks) after radiosurgery. On 1H-MR spectroscopy images a high choline (Cho) peak and a lipiddominant (Lip) peak were observed in 25 lesions and a high Cho peak and a lactate-dominant (Lac) peak were observed in 12 lesions before SRS. A decrease in the Cho peak, a disappearance of the Lac peak, and an increase in the Lip peak were observed between 1 week and 1 month (mean 2.76 ± 1.62 weeks) after treatment. Conclusions. Based on histopathological findings obtained at autopsy or at surgery, we assume that a high Cho peak may be observed in viable tumor tissue and a Lip peak in areas of necrosis. The results indicate that 1H-MR spectroscopy is potentially a more sensitive tool in evaluating the response to SRS than 201TlCl-SPECT or Gd-enhanced MR imaging and that it can be used earlier for this purpose than those other imaging methods.


2001 ◽  
Vol 95 (2) ◽  
pp. 292-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takeo Kondo ◽  
Toshihiro Kumabe ◽  
Shin Maruoka ◽  
Takashi Yoshimoto

Object. The 201Tl uptake index was evaluated for its usefulness in formulating a diagnosis of hemangioblastoma. Thallium-201—single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) studies were performed in nine patients harboring hemangioblastomas in the posterior fossa and in five patients (six lesions) with gliomas in the posterior fossa. Methods. The 201Tl uptake index was defined as the ratio of mean counts of isotope per pixel in the tumor to mean counts of isotope per pixel in the homologous region of the healthy brain. The 201Tl uptake indices of the early image (TlE) and that of the delayed image (TlD) were calculated. The isotope retention index (RI) was calculated as (TlE − TlD)/TlE. The TlE was 2.7 ± 0.7 in hemangioblastomas and 2.9 ± 1.7 in gliomas (mean ± standard deviation). The TlD was 1.5 ± 0.4 in hemangioblastomas and 2.4 ± 1.6 in gliomas. There were no significant differences between hemangioblastomas and gliomas when TlEs and TlDs were compared. The isotope RI was 0.43 ± 0.07 in hemangioblastomas and 0.15 ± 0.1 in gliomas, showing a significantly higher RI in hemangioblastomas compared with gliomas (p < 0.01). Conclusions. Thallium-201 washout is significantly faster in hemangioblastomas. Hemangioblastoma is biologically benign, but contains a rich capillary network that forms a hypervascular tumor bed. Variations in its appearance on magnetic resonance images may cause difficulties in the differential diagnosis of hemangioblastoma. Thallium-201 SPECT studies can be used to distinguish hemangioblastomas from gliomas in the posterior fossa.


2002 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 736-741 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Shahid Siddique ◽  
Helen M. Fernandes ◽  
Thomas D. Wooldridge ◽  
John D. Fenwick ◽  
Piotr Slomka ◽  
...  

Object. A zone of perilesional ischemia has been demonstrated around intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in numerous experimental models and in human studies. There is potential for perfusion recovery in the zone of perilesional oligemia around ICH. The authors sought to demonstrate, quantify, and study the chronological evolution of perilesional ischemic change in ICH in humans by measuring cerebral blood flow. Methods. Eleven patients with spontaneous supratentorial ICH underwent two technetium-99m hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) scanning, one in the acute stage (within days of ictus) and the other in the late stage (6–9 months postictus). All patients in this study were treated nonsurgically. Methods of SPECT data analysis based on count differences in regions of interest can be difficult to apply to images with large space-occupying lesions such as ICH, because of the distortion of intracranial anatomy, midline shift, and alterations in the three-dimensional (3D) characteristics of the lesion over time (that is, absorption of the hematoma on the later studies). The authors used the following method: the late and early images were registered and aligned to a common 3D orientation and were normalized to maximal counts. The late images were then compared voxel by voxel with the early ones. The region-growing algorithm was used to discern the difference between the two images, outlining voxels in the perihematoma region, with a signal improvement of at least 15% on the late image. Discrete brain regions around the hematoma with at least a 15% improvement in radiotracer uptake (and hence perfusion) in the late images were observed in all cases. The mean volume of brain with a greater than 15% improvement in perfusion between the two studies was 34.8 cm3 (range 7.2–71.3 cm3). These volumes represent regions of the brain that were poorly perfused in the initial studies. This may represent a zone of reversible perilesional oligemia (penumbra) in ICH in humans. Conclusions. This is the first study in which it is documented that some of the perilesional hypoperfused tissue around human ICH regains its perfusion in the long term, leading the authors to suggest that there may be a penumbra in human ICH. Medical or surgical therapeutic interventions could increase the volume of perilesional brain that recovers after the initial insult. The results of this study therefore support the concept that intervention in ICH has the potential to reduce the ultimate neurological deficit and improve outcome.


1992 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 565-570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo A. Carvalho ◽  
Richard B. Schwartz ◽  
Eben Alexander ◽  
Basem M. Garada ◽  
Robert E. Zimmerman ◽  
...  

✓ Deteriorating clinical status after high-dose radiation therapy for high-grade gliomas may be due to radiation changes or may signal recurrent or residual tumor mass. The two conditions cannot be distinguished reliably by computerized tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. The authors assessed the ability of sequential thallium-201 chloride (201T1) and technetium-99m hexamethylpropylene amine oxime (99mTc HMPAO) single-photon emission CT (SPECT) to distinguish tumor recurrence from radiation changes after high-dose (≥ 600 cGy) radiation therapy for malignant gliomas. Preoperative tumor/nontumor uptake ratios were analyzed in 32 patients and correlated with the presence of gross tumor at the time of reoperation. In 12 of 13 patients with 201T1 tumor/scalp ratios of 3.5 or greater, recurrent tumor was present. The authors found 99mTc HMPAO SPECT to be useful for identifying the absence of solid tumor recurrence in patients with low to moderate 201T1 uptake (ratio 1.1 to 3.4) and low perfusion to that site. In 11 of 12 patients with 99mTc HMPAO tumor/cerebellum ratios of 0.50 or less, no recurrent tumor mass was present. Three of seven patients with 201T1 ratios of 3.4 or less and 99mTc HMPAO ratios of 0.51 or more had recurrent tumor found at surgery; thus the test was not predictive in this group. It is concluded that the use of sequential 201T1 and 99mTc HMPAO SPECT accurately identifies the presence of tumor recurrence versus radiation changes in most patients with high-grade astrocytomas who have undergone tumor resection and high-dose radiation therapy.


1995 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlo Alberto Pagni ◽  
Sergio Canavero

✓ In this report the authors discuss a case of central pain of spinal cord origin due to a spinal thoracic intramedullary cyst. Single-photon emission computerized tomography with technetium-99 hexamethylpropyleneamineoxime showed thalamic hypoperfusion contralateral to the affected leg. Surgical evacuation resulted in total relief of the pain and normalization of the thalamic alteration. The reader can infer from these findings that functional alterations in thalamic processing may be important in the genesis of central pain.


1998 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard B. Schwartz ◽  
B. Leonard Holman ◽  
Joseph F. Polak ◽  
Basem M. Garada ◽  
Marc S. Schwartz ◽  
...  

Object. The study was conducted to determine the association between dual-isotope single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) scanning and histopathological findings of tumor recurrence and survival in patients treated with high-dose radiotherapy for glioblastoma multiforme. Methods. Studies in which SPECT with 201Tl and 99mTc-hexamethypropyleneamine oxime (HMPAO) were used were performed 1 day before reoperation in 47 patients with glioblastoma multiforme who had previously been treated by surgery and high-dose radiotherapy. Maximum uptake of 201Tl in the lesion was expressed as a ratio to that in the contralateral scalp, and uptake of 99mTc-HMPAO was expressed as a ratio to that in the cerebellar cortex. Patients were stratified into groups based on the maximum radioisotope uptake values in their tumor beds. The significance of differences in patient gender, histological characteristics of tissue at reoperation, and SPECT uptake group with respect to 1-year survival was elucidated by using the chi-square statistic. Comparisons of patient ages and time to tumor recurrence as functions of 1-year survival were made using the t-test. Survival data at 1 year were presented according to the Kaplan—Meier method, and the significance of potential differences was evaluated using the log-rank method. The effects of different variables (tumor type, time to recurrence, and SPECT grouping) on long-term survival were evaluated using Cox proportional models that controlled for age and gender. All patients in Group I (201Tl ratio < 2 and 99mTc-HMPAO ratio < 0.5) showed radiation changes in their biopsy specimens: they had an 83.3% 1-year survival rate. Group II patients (201T1 ratio < 2 and 99mTc-HMPAO ratio of ≥ 0.5 or 201Tl ratio between 2 and 3.5 regardless of 99mTc-HMPAO ratio) had predominantly infiltrating tumor (66.6%); they had a 29.2% 1-year survival rate. Almost all of the patients in Group III (201Tl ratio > 3.5 and 99mTc-HMPAO ratio ≥ 0.5) had solid tumor (88.2%) and they had a 6.7% 1-year survival rate. Histological data were associated with 1-year survival (p < 0.01); however, SPECT grouping was more closely associated with 1-year survival (p < 0.001) and was the only variable significantly associated with long-term survival (p < 0.005). Conclusions. Dual-isotope SPECT data correlate with histopathological findings made at reoperation and with survival in patients with malignant gliomas after surgical and high-dose radiation therapy.


2002 ◽  
Vol 97 ◽  
pp. 484-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toru Serizawa ◽  
Junichi Ono ◽  
Toshihiko Iichi ◽  
Shinji Matsuda ◽  
Makoto Sato ◽  
...  

Object. The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the effectiveness of gamma knife radiosurgery (GKS) for the treatment of metastatic brain tumors from lung cancer, with particular reference to small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) compared with non-SCLC (NSCLC). Methods. Two hundred forty-five consecutive patients meeting the following five criteria were evaluated in this study: 1) no prior brain tumor treatment; 2) 25 or fewer lesions; 3) a maximum of three tumors with a diameter of 20 mm or larger; 4) no surgically inaccessible tumor 30 mm or greater in diameter; and 5) more than 3 months of life expectancy. According to the same treatment protocol, large tumors (≥ 30 mm) were surgically removed and the other small lesions (< 30 mm) were treated with GKS. New lesions were treated with repeated GKS. Chemotherapy was administered, according to the primary physician's protocol, as aggressively as possible. Progression-free, overall, neurological, qualitative, and new lesion—free survival were calculated with the Kaplan—Meier method and were compared in the SCLC and NSCLC groups by using the log-rank test. The poor prognostic factors for each type of survival were also analyzed with the Cox proportional hazard model. Conclusions. Tumor control rate at 1 year was 94.5% in the SCLC group and 98% in the NSCLC group. The median survival time was 9.1 months in the SCLC group and 8.6 months in the NSCLC group. The 1-year survival rates in the SCLC group were 86.5% for neurological survival and 68.9% for qualitative survival; those in the NSCLC group were 87.9% for neurological and 78.9% for qualitative survival. The estimated median interval to emergence of a new lesion was 6.9 months in the SCLC group and 9.8 months in the NSCLC group. There was no significant difference between the two groups for any type of survival; this finding was verified by multivariate analysis. The results of this study suggest that GKS appears to be as effective in treating brain metastases from SCLC as for those from NSCLC.


2005 ◽  
Vol 102 (Special_Supplement) ◽  
pp. 180-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
György T. Szeifert ◽  
Isabelle Salmon ◽  
Sandrine Rorive ◽  
Nicolas Massager ◽  
Daniel Devriendt ◽  
...  

Object. The aim of this study was to analyze the cellular immune response and histopathological changes in secondary brain tumors after gamma knife surgery (GKS). Methods. Two hundred ten patients with cerebral metastases underwent GKS. Seven patients underwent subsequent craniotomy for tumor removal between 1 and 33 months after GKS. Four of these patients had one tumor, two patients had two tumors, and one patient had three. Histological and immunohistochemical investigations were performed. In addition to routine H & E and Mallory trichrome staining, immunohistochemical reactions were conducted to characterize the phenotypic nature of the cell population contributing to the tissue immune response to neoplastic deposits after radiosurgery. Light microscopy revealed an intensive lymphocytic infiltration in the parenchyma and stroma of tumor samples obtained in patients in whom surgery was performed over 6 months after GKS. Contrary to this, extensive areas of tissue necrosis with either an absent or scanty lymphoid population were observed in the poorly controlled neoplastic specimens obtained in cases in which surgery was undertaken in patients less than 6 months after GKS. Immunohistochemical characterization demonstrated the predominance of CD3-positive T cells in the lymphoid infiltration. Conclusions. Histopathological findings of the present study are consistent with a cellular immune response of natural killer cells against metastatic brain tumors, presumably stimulated by the ionizing energy of focused radiation.


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