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Somatostatin receptor scintigraphy for bronchial carcinoid follow-up
Stefano Fanti1, Mohsen Farsad, Giuseppe Battista
1Nuclear Medicine Unit, Ploivlinico S. Orsola-Malpighi, Università degli Studi, Bologna, Italy. fanti@orsola-malpighi.med.unibo.it
Purpose:
Somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (SRS) has been used to diagnose bronchial carcinoids (BC) and is a valuable tool for accurate staging of BC. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of SRS in restaging BC and following patients after treatment.
Methods:
Thirty-one patients (18 male, 13 female) with confirmed BC who were referred during the last 7 years were included. Patients were examined via chest radiograph (12 studies), chest or abdominal computed tomography (CT; 28 scans), chest magnetic resonance imaging (2 scans), and liver ultrasound (5 scans).
Results:
Overall, in 22 patients (71%), SRS confirmed the data obtained by other diagnostic procedures (16 negative and 6 positive findings). In 6 patients, SRS showed focal lesions not previously demonstrated. In 2 patients, SRS resolved uncertain findings of CT. In 1 patient, SRS showed fewer lesions compared with CT. In 8 of 31 patients, important diagnostic information obtained by SRS was not revealed by any other imaging procedure.
Conclusion:
Our results indicate that SRS is a reliable, noninvasive method that could be considered the principal follow-up procedure in patients with BC.