Systematic Reviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Radiol. Jun 28, 2016; 8(6): 635-655
Published online Jun 28, 2016. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v8.i6.635
Endocrine radionuclide scintigraphy with fusion single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography
Ka-Kit Wong, Arpit Gandhi, Benjamin L Viglianti, Lorraine M Fig, Domenico Rubello, Milton D Gross
Ka-Kit Wong, Arpit Gandhi, Milton D Gross, Division of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Radiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5028, United States
Ka-Kit Wong, Benjamin L Viglianti, Lorraine M Fig, Milton D Gross, Nuclear Medicine Service, VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, United States
Benjamin L Viglianti, Radiology Service, VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, United States
Domenico Rubello, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Radiology, NeuroRadiology, Medical Physics, Santa Maria della Misericordia Hospital, 45100 Rovigo, Italy
Author contributions: Wong KK, Rubello D, Gross MD designed the research; Wong KK, Gandhi A, Viglianti BL performed the research; Wong KK, Gandhi A, Viglianti BL, Fig LM analyzed the data; Wong KK, Gandhi A, Viglianti B, Fig LM, Rubello D, Gross MD wrote the paper; Rubello D, Gross MD supervised the paper; all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors do not have any disclosures or conflicts of interest to declare.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Ka-Kit Wong, MBBS, Division of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Radiology, University of Michigan, 1500 E. Medical Center Drive, B1G505 UH, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5028, United States. kakit@med.umich.edu
Telephone: +1-734-9365388 Fax: +1-734-9368182
Received: August 28, 2015
Peer-review started: September 5, 2015
First decision: October 8, 2015
Revised: February 26, 2016
Accepted: March 17, 2016
Article in press: March 17, 2016
Published online: June 28, 2016
Processing time: 294 Days and 19.2 Hours
Abstract

AIM: To review the benefits of single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/computed tomography (CT) hybrid imaging for diagnosis of various endocrine disorders.

METHODS: We performed MEDLINE and PubMed searches using the terms: “SPECT/CT”; “functional anatomic mapping”; “transmission emission tomography”; “parathyroid adenoma”; “thyroid cancer”; “neuroendocrine tumor”; “adrenal”; “pheochromocytoma”; “paraganglioma”; in order to identify relevant articles published in English during the years 2003 to 2015. Reference lists from the articles were reviewed to identify additional pertinent articles. Retrieved manuscripts (case reports, reviews, meta-analyses and abstracts) concerning the application of SPECT/CT to endocrine imaging were analyzed to provide a descriptive synthesis of the utility of this technology.

RESULTS: The emergence of hybrid SPECT/CT camera technology now allows simultaneous acquisition of combined multi-modality imaging, with seamless fusion of three-dimensional volume datasets. The usefulness of combining functional information to depict the bio-distribution of radiotracers that map cellular processes of the endocrine system and tumors of endocrine origin, with anatomy derived from CT, has improved the diagnostic capability of scintigraphy for a range of disorders of endocrine gland function. The literature describes benefits of SPECT/CT for 99mTc-sestamibi parathyroid scintigraphy and 99mTc-pertechnetate thyroid scintigraphy, 123I- or 131I-radioiodine for staging of differentiated thyroid carcinoma, 111In- and 99mTc- labeled somatostatin receptor analogues for detection of neuroendocrine tumors, 131I-norcholesterol (NP-59) scans for assessment of adrenal cortical hyperfunction, and 123I- or 131I-metaiodobenzylguanidine imaging for evaluation of pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma.

CONCLUSION: SPECT/CT exploits the synergism between the functional information from radiopharmaceutical imaging and anatomy from CT, translating to improved diagnostic accuracy and meaningful impact on patient care.

Keywords: Parathyroid adenoma; Neuroendocrine tumor; Single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography; Single photon emission computed tomography-computed tomography; Thyroid cancer; Pheochromocytoma; Paraganglioma

Core tip: The emergence of hybrid single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/computed tomography (CT) camera technology now allows simultaneous acquisition of multi-modality imaging with seamless fusion of three-dimensional volume datasets; combining functional information from radionuclide scintigraphy and anatomy derived from CT. SPECT/CT imaging exploits the synergism between “function” and “form” for investigation of endocrine disorders, translating to improved diagnostic accuracy and meaningful impact on patient care.