Image fusion analysis of (99m)Tc-HYNIC-Tyr(3)-octreotide SPECT and diagnostic CT using an immobilisation device with external markers in patients with endocrine tumours

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Octreotide, published as a clinical trial.

The aim of this study was to assess the value of multimodality imaging using a novel repositioning device with external markers for fusion of single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and computed tomography (CT) images.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 19 patients were involved.

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults, middle-aged adults, older adults and people over 80, both men and women.

Follow-up studies after therapy were performed in 19 patients.

To ensure reproducible positioning, patients were fixed in an individualised vacuum mattress with modality-specific external markers for co-registration.

How the Study Was Run

Clinical indications for somatostatin receptor (SSTR) scintigraphy (SPECT/CT image fusion) included staging of newly diagnosed tumours (n=14) and detection of unknown primary tumour in the presence of clinical and/or biochemical suspicion of neuroendocrine malignancy (n=20).

A mean activity of 400 MBq of (99m)Tc-EDDA/HYNIC-Tyr(3)-octreotide was given intravenously.

SPECT using a dual-detector scintillation camera and diagnostic multi-detector CT were sequentially performed.

SPECT and CT data were initially interpreted separately and the fused images were interpreted jointly in consensus by nuclear medicine and diagnostic radiology physicians.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Image Enhancement, Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted, Immobilization, Neuroendocrine Tumors, Octreotide, Organotechnetium Compounds and Radiopharmaceuticals.

What This Means in Plain Language

This is a clinical trial of Octreotide in 19 patients.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

Its findings take up roughly 8 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2005 (European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging), a journal based in Germany.

More context: the Octreotide compound page, all human trials.