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Internal pair production of 90Y permits hepatic localization of microspheres using routine PET: proof of concept
Vanessa L Gates1, Abdulredha A H Esmail, Karen Marshall
1Section of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Radiology, Northwestern University, Chicago Illinois 60611, USA.
Unlabelled:
Radioembolization with 90Y microspheres represents a novel transarterial radiation treatment for liver tumors. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the findings of postimplantation PET/CT of 90Y glass microspheres.
Methods:
Three patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and 2 patients with liver metastases (1 neuroendocrine, 1 colorectal) underwent PET/CT after radioembolization. Four patients underwent imaging at 1 mo to assess response and confirm PET/CT findings; 1 patient underwent PET/CT at 4 d after 90Y implantation. Patients were followed for adverse events.
Results:
Standard PET/CT enabled the localization of 90Y glass microspheres for all patients. None of the patients experienced adverse events related to nontarget deposition.
Conclusion:
Standard PET/CT may be used to assess the localization of 90Y glass microspheres. This approach provides a simple, rapid, and universally applicable method of confirming microsphere deposition. With further validation, this technique may potentially become the standard of care for confirming microsphere distribution.
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