• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.489-490
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• 2005

Purpose: The thyroglossal duct runs from the base of the tongue to the thyroid. Rarely the thyroid completely fails to migrate and results in ectopic thyroid tissue, which can be demonstrated scintigraphically. A 31-year old female patient was referred for thyroid scintigraphy due to protruding mass at the base of the tongue. She was mildly hypothyroid. Te-99m pertechnetate thyroid scan was performed to rule out ectopic thyroid gland. There showed a focal area of intense tracer uptake in sublingual area, suggesting the sublingual thyroid. In addition there noted diffusely increased tracer uptake in both breasts. The patient delivered a baby 6 months prior to the scan and was on breast-feeding. Free Tc-99m pertechnetate physiologically secrets into the salivary glands, the stomach, the gastrointestinal tract, the genitourinary tract and the mammary glands and sodium-iodide symporter plays a role in the accumulation of free Tc-99m pertechnetate. We report simultaneous visualization of lactating breasts and ectopic thyroid gland in the base of the tongue.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.315-318
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• 1993

We experienced 7 cases of patients who were performed $^{99m}Tc$-methylene diphosphonate bone scintigraphy for the evaluation of diseases they had. Their bone scintigrams showed incidental radionuclide uptake in the gastrointestinal tracts and they had no special symptom or sign attributable to the findings. Case 1 showed radionuclide uptake in the stomach and both lung and the patient had suffered from hypercalcemia and azotemia. Case 3 and case 6 showed diffuse radionuclide uptake in the stomach and intestinal tract. Others showed diffuse or regional radionuclide uptake in the intestinal tracts. Radionuclide uptake in the gastrointestinal tract by $^{99m}Tc$-methylene diphosphonate is caused by a certain pathologic lesion but also can be seen in the normal gastrointestinal tract. So, one who reads bone scintigrams should be alert for the pathologic lesion in the gastrointestinal tract although one must interpretate with the concept of this normal variations.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.131-136
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• 2004

Osseointegration involves anchoring dental implants to stable bone rather than to soft-tissue. Clinical osseointegration is currently defined as the process whereby alloplastic material is asymptomatically and rigidly fixed and maintained in bone during functional loading. Full osseointegration is necessary for the success of long-term dental implants. Recent developments in computer assisted measurement of bone formation have improved maxillofacial examination and osseointegration. Computer assisted examination has also proved effective in dental implantology. This investigation was aimed to determine osseointegration in immediate and delayed implantation in the dog mandible using dental computed tomography (CT) and bone scintigraphy. Five adult (mean age of 2 years) mongrel dogs with a mean weight of 9.1 kg were used in this investigation. Titanium alloy implant systems with 4 mm in diameter and 10 mm in length were chosen for insertion. The second and third left mandibular premolars in each dog were extracted for the delayed implant insertion. Twelve weeks later, the second and third right mandibular premolars were extracted for the immediate implant insertion. Before the delayed and immediate implantation procedures and 0, 4, 8, and 12 weeks after the insertions, dental CT and scintigraphy were conducted. The CT and scintigraphic images indicate that reconstruction of bone surrounding of the immediate implant can be as successful as reconstruction of bone surrounding of the delayed implant.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.179-182
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• 2019

Sjögren syndrome (SS) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by dryness of the mouth and eyes due to lymphocytic infiltration of the exocrine glands. In American European Consensus Group (AECG) criteria, abnormal salivary gland scintigraphy (SGS) result is one of the objective signs of SS and it has been proposed as a valid and non-invasive alternative approach to functional evaluation of salivary gland, especially in the case when unstimulated whole salivary flow is more than 1.5 mL in 15 minutes or other AECG criteria is unmet. Patients with SS are more likely to have the thyroid disease (TD), but this association remains controversial. We present a case of the use of SGS for diagnosis of primary SS and TD in patients with dry mouth and burning sensation of tongue. Through this case, we suggest the usefulness of salivary scintigraphy for screening TD in addition to diagnosis of SS.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.189-193
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• 1989

To observe the effect of gastric filling on the images of hepatic scintigraphy, we performed hepatic scintigraphy using $^{99m}Tc-tin$ colloid in twenty patients both in the fasting state and after meal, and made the visual comparison of both images. We found that gastric filling could cause some of the following changes in individual patients. 1) In the anterior view, the distance between the liver and the spleen increased and the interlobar notch of the inferior hepatic border was obliterated. The spleen was displaced downwards, its radioactivity in the upper medial part was reduced, and its upper pole was laterally displaced. 2) In the posterior view, the left lobe of the liver was separated from the spleen and the distance between the liver and the spleen increased. 3) In the right lateral view, the notch separating the right and the left lobes of the liver was well demarcated. 4) In the left lateral view, the spleen was separated from the liver and the distance between the liver and the spleen increased. The shape of the spleen was also changed. In case of the follow-up study, above changes should make one consider the possibility of the effect of gastric filling.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.253-258
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• 2009

Bone scintigraphy using $^{99m}$Tc-labeled phosphate agents has long been the standard evaluation method for whole skeletal system. However, recent shortage of $^{99m}$Tc supply and advanced positron emission tomography (PET) technology evoked the attention to surrogate radiopharmaceuticals and imaging modalities for bone. Actually, fluorine-18 ($^{18}$F) was the first bone seeking radiotracer before the introduction of $^{99m}$Tc-labeled agents even though its clinical application failed to become pervasive anymore after the rapid spread of Anger type gamma camera systems in early 1970s. However, rapidly developed PET technology made us refocus on the usefulness of $^{18}$F as a PET tracer. Early study comparing $^{18}$F-Na PET scan and planar bone scintigraphy reported that PET has higher sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of metastatic bone lesions than planar bone scan. Subsequent reports comparing between PET and both planar and SPECT bone image also revealed better results of PET scan in similar study groups. Rapid clinical application of PET/CT also accumulated considerable amount of experiences in skeletal evaluation and this modality is known to have better diagnostic power than stand alone PET system as well as bone scan. Furthermore $^{18}$F-Na PET/CT revealed better or at least equal results in detection of primary and metastatic bone lesions compared with CT and MRI. Therefore, it is obvious that $^{18}$F-Na PET/CT has potential to become new imaging modality for practical skeletal evaluation so continuous and careful evaluation of this modality and radiopharmaceutical must be required.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.62-73
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• 1990

Recently ultrasound and scintigraphic study are most useful modality for diagnosis of scrotal diseases. They are able to determine the nature, anatomic extent of the lesion, and possible to differential diagnosis of the scrotal lesion. The ultrasound and scintigraphic findings were analyses in 59 patients of confirmed scrotal disease at Seoul Red Cross Hospital from June 1986 to Aug. 1989. The results were as follows. 1) Most patients were below the 30 years old age (69.4%), and most prevalent age was $11\sim30$ Yrs. in trauma, $31\sim40$ Yrs. in inflammation, and $51\sim60$ Yrs. in mass lesion of scrotum. 2) The diagnostic accuracy of scrotal disease was 94.9% in ultrasound and 72% in scintigraphic study. The ultrasound study showed high accuracy in all kind of scrotat disease, but scintigraphy showed only high detection rate in inflammatory disease. 3) Scrotal ultrasound is first choice of study for the diagnosis of scrotal lesion, and useful determine the cystic or solid lesion and anatomic extent of disease. However it can't be differentiate the acute epididymitis with acute testicular torsion. 4) Scrotal scintigraphy is useful study for the diagnosis of acute painful scrotal disease, and showed specific findings in acute epididymitis and acute torsion for differential diagnosis. 5) In consideration of age, history and clinical findings of patient, appropriate study will be chosen firstly in ultrasound and scintigraphy, and combined all of findings of these studies will be helpful for the accurate diagnosis and adequate treatment of scrotal disease.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.43-51
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• 2001

Purpose: In this study, we compared the quantitative characteristics of dynamic salivary gland scintigraphy with static scintigraphy in patients with clinical sicca syndrome using Tc-99m pertechnetate. Materials and Methods: Fifty-two parotid glands and 52 submandibular glands out of 26 patients with clinical sicca syndrome were studied by dynamic and static salivary gland scintigraphy. Ten normal volunteers were also studied as a control group for comparison of scintigraphic parameters. Ten minutes after injection of 370 MBq Tc-99m pertechnetate, we obtained pre-stimulus static images for a few minutes. Then dynamic salivary gland scintigraphy with lemon juice stimulation was performed for 20 minutes. Finally we obtained post-stimulus static images after dynamic images. On dynamic study, functional parameters such as uptake rate, secretion rate and re-uptake rate were calculated. The results of dynamic study and static images were compared. Results: On dynamic study, we could obtain functional parameters of salivary glands successfully. On dynamic study, 22 parotid glands and 22 submandibular glands out of each of 52 glands are abnormal. The static images demonstrated somewhat different results, of which reasons we could assume via dynamic study. Conclusion: Dynamic salivary gland scintigraphy using Tc-99m perechnetate were more functional than static images and might be useful in the assessment of the functional change of the salivary gland in patients with clinical sicca syndrome.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.12-20
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• 2008

Purpose: Chronic pulmonary disease may be caused by aspiration of gastric contents secondary to gastroesophageal reflux. At present, there is no gold standard for documenting pulmonary aspiration. The purpose of this study was to investigate the usefulness of radionuclide scintigraphy in the detection of gastroesophageal reflux and pulmonary aspiration. Methods: Thirty-five patients with suspected aspiration pneumonia, and five normal control subjects, were included in the study. All subjects underwent gastroesophageal reflux scintigraphy after the ingestion of a $^{99m}Tc$-tin colloid mixture. Dynamic images to detect gastroesophageal reflux were obtained for 1 hour. Additional static images of the chest, to detect lung aspiration, were obtained at 6 and 24 hours after oral ingestion of the tin colloid. In addition to visual analysis, pulmonary aspiration was quantitated by counting the number of pixels labeled with radioactive isotope in the region of interest (ROI) of both lung fields. Aspiration index (AI) was obtained by subtracting the pixel counts of the background from the pixel counts of the ROI. Results: Among 35 patients with suspected aspiration pneumonia, 23 proved to have gastroesophageal reflux by scintigraphy. One patient showed definite pulmonary accumulation of activity by visual analysis of the 6-hour image. Thirty of 35 (85.7%) patients showed higher AI beyond the upper limit of AI in the healthy controls. When we compared the reflux group with the non-reflux group, there was a significantly higher AI at 6 hours in the reflux group (p<0.05). Conclusion: The results suggest that radionuclide scintigraphy is useful in detecting small pulmonary aspiration in patients with suspected aspiration pneumonia secondary to reflux.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.185-194
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• 2002

Purpose: We studied clinical aspects and courses of patients with pulmonary radioactivity on liver scintigraphy and speculated the mechanism of pulmonary uptake of radiocolloids. Materials and Methods: Forty-nine patients with pulmonary radioactivity were classified into 5 disease groups-liver disease, infection, cancer, ischemic necrosis of liver, etc.- and their presence or absence of chronic liver disease (CLD), Child-Pugh class, serum levels of AST and ALT, results of follow-up liver scintigraphy and clinical course were checked. Results: Of total 49 patients 25 had CLD; there were 23 liver disease patients, 16 infection patients, 7 advanced cancer patients, 2 ischemic necrosis of liver patients, and 1 hemolytic anemia patient. Reversible rise of serum levels of AST and ALT was observed in all patients with liver disease and ischemic necrosis of liver; on one-way ANOVA, these rise were statistically significant (p<0.01). Serum level of ALT of liver disease group patients without CLD was significantly higher than that of infection group patients without CLD (p<0.05). Among 17 patients who underwent follow-up liver scintigraphy, 13 showed no pulmonary radioactivity. Total 12 patients died during follow-up and most of them were terminal cancer patients or CLD patients of Child-Pugh class C. Conclusion: Pulmonary radioactivity of radiocolloid liver scintigraphy could be attributed to the mobilization of reticuloendothelial system (RES) cells by the activation of RES cells in severe infection and terminal cancer, and also by the extensive liver destruction in liver diseases.