Abass Alavi

Abass Alavi
University of Pennsylvania | UP · Department of Radiology

M.D, M.D.(Hon), Ph.D.(Hon), D.Sc.(Hon)

About

1,686
Publications
157,922
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66,974
Citations
Additional affiliations
July 1971 - present
University of Pennsylvania
Position
  • Senior Researcher

Publications

Publications (1,686)
Conference Paper
Introduction: The main goal of this systematic review is 1. To assess the prediction machine learning based radiomics features of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-PET imaging in detection of prostate cancer (PCa), 2. Determine the most accurate model applied among machine learning (ML) models, 3. Determine the most dominant radiomics feat...
Article
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Introduction A positive fluorine-18 labelled 2-deoxy-2-fluoroglucose ([18F]FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) has been associated with more aggressive disease and less differentiated neuroendocrine neoplasms (NEN). Although a high maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) predicts poor outcome in NEN, volumetric paramet...
Poster
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Abstract 1360 Introduction: 18F-sodium fluoride positron emission tomography/computed tomography (NaF-PET/CT) portrays increased bone turnover in osteoblastic skeletal metastases, as found in prostate cancer. In this study, we determined the feasibility of using global assessment with NaF-PET/CT to quantify total disease burden presented by metast...
Poster
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Abstract 2037 Objectives: 1. Review the PET tracers and their targets in evaluating metastatic bone disease. 2. Evaluate the relative utility of imaging bone turnover compared to imaging tumor-specific metabolic activity. Methods: Bone metastases often result from tumor cells that seed the red bone marrow and eventually cause bone remodeling thro...
Poster
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Abstract 2006 Objectives: 1. Review PET tracers and their applications in musculoskeletal disorders. 2. Introduce quantitative and semi-quantitative methods of assessing musculoskeletal involvement by PET. Methods: Molecular imaging with PET provides unique insights into molecular phenomena that precede macroscopic changes such as the presence of...
Poster
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Abstract 2004 Objectives: 1. Discuss the role of PET in imaging inflammatory and infectious disorders that affect the musculoskeletal system. 2. Describe the utility of PET in assessing bone turnover and its applications in metabolic bone disease. Methods: Although the introduction of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in musculoskeletal imaging ha...
Poster
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Abstract 1171 Objectives: The sacroiliac (SI) joint is one of the largest synovial joints in the body and can be involved in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). 18F-sodium fluoride (NaF) is a PET tracer that deposits in sites of new bone formation. Inflammation can be imaged by 18F-fludeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET/CT. The aim of this study was to determine the ut...
Poster
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Abstract 1170 Objectives: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a disorder involving chronic inflammation of the synovial membrane that lines joints. Inflammation can be assessed using 18F-fludeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET/CT because inflammatory cells exhibit a high rate of glycolysis. Uptake of 18F-sodium fluoride (NaF), another PET tracer, shows osteoblastic ac...
Poster
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Abstract 1166 Objectives: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) involves chronic inflammation of synovial joints, causing pain, stiffness, and limited mobility. 18F-sodium fluoride (NaF) is a PET tracer whose uptake reflects bone turnover, while 18F-fludeoxyglucose (FDG) shows glucose metabolism and can serve as a marker for inflammation. The aim of this stud...
Article
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AimTo compare the effects of high-dose therapy (HDT consisting of high-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation) and conventional-dose chemotherapy (non-HDT) on the uptake of 18F-sodium fluoride (NaF) in the whole bone, pelvis, and femoral neck of multiple myeloma (MM) patients.Method The data of 19 MM patients who receive...
Article
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The practical application of dual-time-point-imaging (DTPI) technique still remains controversial. One of the issues is that current parameters of DTPI quantification suffer from some deficiencies, mainly limited sampling of the diseased sites by confining measurements to specific locations. We aimed to examine the correlation between the percent c...
Article
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Objectives: Elevated blood pressure from cocaine can increase left ventricular (LV) metabolic activity, leading to structural changes such as hypertrophy. We aimed to assess the association between blood pressure and LV myocardial uptake of FDG, hypothesizing that HIV individuals with raised blood pressure will have higher FDG uptake. Methods: Uni...
Article
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Objectives: Cocaine exerts various adverse effects on the cardiovascular system, something that can be further exasperated in HIV positive individuals. In this study, we aimed to assess the atherosclerotic activity in the thoracic aorta of HIV patients with and without cocaine use, hypothesizing that there is a stronger association between blood pr...
Article
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Aims To investigate the benefit of utilizing ¹⁸F-sodium fluoride (NaF) PET/CT over calcium and Framingham scoring for potential preventative coronary artery disease (CAD) intervention. Methods and results This retrospective study included 136 participants (ages 21–75, BMI 18–43 kg/m²): 86 healthy controls and 50 patients. CT heart segmentations we...
Conference Paper
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Objective: Risk score estimated by Pooled Cohort Equations (PCE) uses a composite of metabolic and non-metabolic parameters to predict atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) events. However, its relationship with coronary plaque burden is unknown. We hypothesize that ASCVD risk score correlates positively with global cardiac microcalcificat...
Conference Paper
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Methods: We identified 68 healthy non-diabetic individuals (aged 41.7±13.5 years; 35 females, 33 males) from the CAMONA trial. These individuals underwent PET/CT imaging 90 minutes after the injection of NaF (2.2Mbq/Kg). A uniform and standardized protocol was followed for acquisition of the images. CT imaging was conducted to account for attenuati...
Conference Paper
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Objective: Atherosclerosis is a heterogeneous disease process associated with various modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors. We sought to compare the differences in the total atherosclerotic burden between males and females in individuals without known atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) using NaF PET/CT. Methods: We selected 68 he...
Article
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Purpose We examined the literature to elucidate the role of 18F-sodium fluoride (NaF)-PET in atherosclerosis. Methods Following a systematic search of PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane Library included articles underwent subjective quality assessment with categories low, medium, and high. Of 2811 records, 1780 remained after removal of duplicat...
Conference Paper
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Purpose: To assess the value of FDG-PET/CT for predicting survival in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients measuring global disease activity. Methods: This study included 16 patients with NSCLC (9 females, 7 males) aged 56-86 years (mean: 70 ±9) with FDG-PET/CT performed prior to initiation of nivolumab and after the end of the treatment. Th...
Conference Paper
Background: Atherosclerosis is the most common cause of peripheral artery disease (PAD). We sought to compare the atherosclerotic burden in non-lower extremity arteries in patients with and without PAD using NaF-PET/CT. Methods: We identified 5 individuals (61.8±6.6 years, 1 male, 4 females) with PAD and matched them to 5 individuals without PAD b...
Conference Paper
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Objectives: Examine the role of FDG-PET/CT imaging in hepatic tumors pre-and post-chemoembolization in patient selection, patient prognosis, and treatment response. Methods: Chemoembolization is a well-established method for locoregional treatment of patients with hepatic tumors, for decreasing tumor burden, preventing metastatic spread, and as a t...
Conference Paper
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Objectives: The goal of this study was to assess global cerebral glucose metabolism in subjects with known cardiovascular risk factors and healthy controls by employing a quantitative 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) technique. We hypothesized that subjects at-risk would demonstrate decreased glob...
Conference Paper
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Objectives: Assess the current medical applications of NaF-PET/CT and FDG-PET/CT in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. Discuss the importance of NaF-PET/CT in identifying local and systemic early calcifications within arteries with focus on carotid arteries. Determine the association between atherosclerotic plaques of the carotid arteries...
Conference Paper
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Objectives: Radiation-induced heart disease (RIHD) is an increasingly recognized cause of mortality in patients receiving radiation therapy (RT) for thoracic malignancies such as mediastinal lymphomas, breast, lung, and oesophageal carcinomas. RIHD is a complex disease entity that includes both early and late cardiac complications. These include co...
Conference Paper
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Objectives: Explore the clinical utility of quantitative FDG-PET in assessing treatment response in cholangiocarcinoma Methods: Cholangiocarcinoma is the most common biliary malignancy, affecting elderly adults with peak incidence in the 7th decade, and according to its location it is divided into intrahepatic and extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. T...
Conference Paper
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Purpose: 1) to investigate the metabolic activity of the psoriatic skin lesions with FDG-PET/CT imaging and 2) to correlate FDG-PET findings with Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) scores, the most widely-used grading system for psoriasis. Methods: A subset of 33 subjects from a single center from a prospective multi-center clinical trial [NC...
Conference Paper
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Objectives: • To quantify FDG uptake in the thoracic aorta in an animal model expressing metabolic syndrome and atherosclerosis • To measure uptake in delayed time point (DTP) images with FDG-PET/CT imaging. • To evaluate FDG-PET/CT as a modality in the assessment of atherosclerosis Methods: This study included 16 pigs that underwent PET/CT scannin...
Conference Paper
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1600 Objectives: Cancer patients are at a several-fold increased risk of developing venous thromboembolism (VTE). Early detection of VTE may have the potential to decrease the occurrence of adverse events in these patients. The development of thrombosis is followed by an inflammatory response mediated by leukocytes and cytokines. These cells harbor...
Conference Paper
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Objectives:-Evaluate the role of FDG-PET/CT for the detection of venous thromboembolism-Highlight the important of whole-body FDG-PET/CT imaging in the vascular pathologies Methods: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a vascular condition characterized by deep vein thrombi (DVT) and acute pulmonary emboli (PE). VTE represents a major source of morbidit...
Conference Paper
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Objectives: We aimed to quantify the total body atherosclerotic burden in major arteries of the body assessed by NaF PET/CT in healthy controls and patients at-risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). We hypothesized that at-risk patients will have a higher uptake than healthy controls and, in addition, that it is strongly correlated with age. Method...
Conference Paper
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Objectives: The presence of typical cardiovascular risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension, smoking, dyslipidemia comprise a few of the many risk factors associated with the development of atherosclerosis. However, the absence of such conventional risk factors may not exclude an individual from developing subclinical atherosclerosis. NaF is a n...
Conference Paper
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Objectives: CHADS 2 (scored as 1 point each for congestive heart failure, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, age ≥75 years, and 2 points for past stroke/transient ischemic attack) and CHA 2 DS 2-VASc (scored as 1 point each for congestive heart failure, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, vascular disease, age 65 to 75 years, or female sex, and 2 points...
Conference Paper
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Rationale: Atherosclerosis has been extensively detailed in the coronary, carotid, peripheral, and renal arteries; however, little exists on its presence or activity in the pulmonary arteries. The goal of this study was to assess the feasibility of 18F-sodium fluoride positron emission tomography- computed tomography (NaF-PET/CT) imaging in early d...
Conference Paper
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Objectives: 1. Review current imaging techniques and guidelines for analyzing pulmonary artery atherosclerosis 2. Underscore the importance of F Sodium Fluoride (NaF)-PET/CT as opposed to 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET/CT in early detection of atherosclerosis and its implications for future clinical complications 3. Delineate a novel methodolo...
Conference Paper
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Objectives: Atherosclerosis and subsequent hypertension are major preventable causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Atherogenesis in the aorta, coronary arteries, and carotid arteries have previously been quantified using 18F-sodium fluoride positron emission tomography/computed tomography (NaF-PET/CT). In the present study, we aim to 1) dem...
Conference Paper
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Objectives: 1. Review imaging modalities currently available for osteoporosis diagnosis and management 2. Discuss the potential role of NaF PET/CT in early detection of osteoporosis 3. Highlight the revolutionary effect total-body PET/CT can have with regards to osteoporosis Methods: Osteoporosis is a process by which osteoblastic activity (new bon...
Conference Paper
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Objectives: Radiation therapy (RT) is an important component of care in the treatment of many head and neck cancers (HNC). Photon RT vasculitis is a potential risk of incidental dose delivery to the nearby vascular structures. However, optimal methods for early diagnosis are not clearly established. The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility...
Conference Paper
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Objectives: To quantify the effects of obesity and high-calcium diet on aortic calcification, assessed by 1) NaF-PET/CT and 2) number of aortic calcium depositions on histological section. Methods: This study included 13 swine divided into 4 groups: 2 animals on normal-calorie / normal-calcium diet (control), 4 metabolic syndrome (obese) pigs on hi...
Conference Paper
Purpose: The applications of PET/MRI in neuroimaging have improved the use of functional imaging in the brain. Nonetheless, the complex structures within the brain can make quantitative assessment difficult given the partial volume effect. This study develops a novel methodology that segments white matter and grey matter so as to minimize the parti...
Conference Paper
Purpose: Recent innovations in molecular imaging have improved the detection and characterization of cancers. In particular, the expanded use of PET/MRI has improved the imaging of soft tissues and the subsequent structural attribution of PET data. Methods: Relevant literature databases, such as PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science, were sea...
Conference Paper
Purpose: The recent advent of PET/MRI has introduced a host of new applications for FDG-PET. As interest in this novel hybrid modality steadily grows, the broader community must remain cognizant of its limitations. This study will explore such limitations relating to the imaging of atherosclerotic plaques and arterial inflammation. Results: The as...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Role of FDG in the management of radiation-induced complications in patients with head and neck malignancies jnm.snmjournals.org/content/61/supplement_1/1185.abstract?sid=ac7ba45c-e136-47b7-b385-ef5c7523ef22 Abstract 1185 Objectives: Explain the association between FDG uptake and glucose metabolism in areas of inflammation in patients with head and...
Conference Paper
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1156 Objectives: Examine the significance of FDG and NaF uptake within an infected region of the body. Investigate the utility of FDG-PET/CT and NaF-PET/CT in the diagnosis, assessment, and management of surgically-associated musculoskeletal infections, such as osteomyelitis. Review the advantages and limitations of FDG-PET/CT and NaF-PET/CT as ind...
Article
Full-text available
The goal of this study was to assess pulmonary artery calcification in healthy controls and subjects with suspicion of stable angina pectoris through the usage of quantitative 18 F-sodium fluoride positron emission to-mography/computed tomography (NaF-PET/CT). We hypothesized that these 'at-risk subjects' would demonstrate increase pulmonary artery...
Article
Objective We aimed to determine whether NaF-PET/CT or FDG-PET/CT can detect abdominal aortic molecular calcification and inflammation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Methods In this study, 18 RA patients (4 women, 14 men; mean age 56.0 ± 11.7) and 18 healthy controls (4 women, 14 men; mean age 55.8 ± 11.9) were included. The controls wer...
Article
The role of fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET/computed tomography (CT) in tuberculosis (TB) continues to expand in disease detection, assessment of the extent of the disease, and treatment response monitoring. This article reviews available data regarding the use of FDG-PET/CT in patients with TB. A new method of quantification for patients with TB is i...
Article
Background Standard of care metabolic bone disease assessment relies on changes to bone quantity, which can only be detected after structural changes occur. Purpose To investigate the usefulness of Bone Metabolism Score (BMS), derived from fluorine 18 labeled sodium fluoride (¹⁸F-NaF) PET/CT imaging as a biomarker of localized metabolic changes at...
Article
Full-text available
Radiation therapy (RT) is an important component of care for head and neck cancers (HNC). Photon RT vasculitis is a complication of incidental dose delivery to nearby vascular structures. However, optimal methods for early diagnosis are not clearly established. The aim of this study was to evaluate 18F-FDG-PET/CT in detecting radiation-induced vasc...
Article
Aortic valve calcification is a slow and progressive pathological process that can manifest in various degrees from mild thickening of the valve known as aortic sclerosis to severe calcification that hinders the leaflet motion, known as aortic stenosis. The evolving concept of aortic calcification is thought to result from infiltration of macrophag...
Article
Full-text available
Objective(s): We aimed to assess the association between blood pressure and LV myocardial uptake of FDG, hypothesizing that subjects with raised blood pressure would have higher FDG uptake. Methods: We analyzed 86 healthy controls who underwent PET/CT imaging 180 minutes following FDG (4 MBq/Kg) administration. LV myocardial analysis was performed...
Article
Full-text available
Background: 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG-PET/CT) has emerged as a useful diagnostic tool for suspected infective endocarditis (IE) in patients with prosthetic valves or implantable devices. However, there is limited evidence regarding use of 18F-FDG-PET/CT for the diagnosis of native valve endoca...
Article
Background: Psoriasis, a chronic immune-mediated disease, is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events and mortality. Secukinumab selectively neutralizes IL-17A and has demonstrated high efficacy with a favorable safety profile in various psoriatic disease manifestations. Trial design and methods: Subsequent to the 12-week rando...
Article
Full-text available
Objective(s): Functional imaging presents a non-invasive process that may capture the hyper-metabolic nature of red bone marrow in myeloproliferative neoplasms, such as polycythemia vera (PV). Methods: This study analyzed the FDG-PET/CT scans (n=12) of six patients diagnosed with PV and six age-sex matched controls using a quantitative global ana...
Article
Radiation-induced normal tissue toxicities vary in terms of pathophysiologic determinants and timing of disease development, and they are influenced by the dose and radiation volume the critical organs receive, and the radiosensitivity of normal tissues and their baseline rate of cell turnover. Radiation-induced lung injury is dose limiting for the...
Article
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For decades, conventional nuclear medicine techniques have been utilized for the assessment of many infectious and inflammatory diseases. Most of these techniques have limitations such as the relatively low spatial resolution, being time consuming and low sensitivity or specificity. In recent years, FDG-PET/CT has shown promising role in the manage...
Article
Full-text available
The purpose of this study was to investigate the metabolic activity of the respiratory muscles in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) and correlate with pulmonary function test results. Thirty-three male patients with a past medical history of smoking and COPD referred to 2-deoxy-2-[18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission...
Article
Purpose: We present a novel computed tomography-based tissue segmentation methodology for determining volume and global uptake of FDG of the thigh muscles and correlate these parameters with age. Materials and methods: A total of 71 subjects from a prospective clinical trial (NCT01724749) were included. PET/CT scans were acquired 180 minutes aft...
Article
Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the effect of intensive therapy [consisting of high-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (HDC/ASCT)] and conventional standard-dose chemotherapy (CDC) on brain FDG uptake, as an indicator of glucose metabolism, in multiple myeloma patients. Materials and methods: Twenty-...
Article
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Introduction Several radiolabeled somatostatin analogues have been developed for molecular imaging of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) with single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron-emission tomography (PET). The aim of the present study was to report our first results using ⁶⁴Cu-DOTATOC in patients with NETs. Methods Thirty-thre...
Article
2-Deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose (2-FDG) with positron emission tomography (2-FDG-PET) is undeniably useful in the clinic, among other uses, to monitor change over time using the 2-FDG standardized uptake values (SUV) metric. This report suggests some potentially serious caveats for this and related roles for 2-FDG PET. Most critical is the assumpti...
Article
Aim: 2-deoxy-2-[18 F]fluoro-d-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) can portray increased glycolysis due to inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the reliability and construct validity of two methods of quantifying RA disease activity using FDG-PET/CT. Method:...
Article
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This study aimed to determine the prognostic value of pretreatment FDG-PET in patients with metastatic liver disease undergoing Yttrium 90 (90Y) radio-embolization using global disease assessment measures. Data from 16 patients with metastatic liver disease (8 males, 8 females) aged 55-97 years (mean: 67±12) were retrospectively collected. On PET,...
Article
Objective: To determine the correlation between fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) uptake values and clinicopathological prognostic markers using preoperative 18F-FDG positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in primary breast cancer (BC). Subjects and methods: One hundred and twelve patients with primary BC were studied pr...
Article
Interventional oncology treatments have profound effects on tumor immunity. Quantitative molecular imaging with FDG-PET has the potential to aid in understanding baseline tumor characteristics that can predict response to interventional oncology treatments and immunotherapy. This review highlights some of the evidence for immune activation in the s...
Article
Interventional radiology procedures have revolutionized the treatment of cancer and interventional oncology is now the fourth pillar of cancer care. The article discusses the importance of fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET imaging, and dual time-point imaging in the context of PET/computed tomography as applied to treatments of liver malignancy. The nec...
Article
Background: 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) and 18F-florbetapir PET are approved neuroimaging biomarkers for the Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Objectives: This study aims to compare the efficacy of 18F-FDG and 18F-florbetapir PET at evaluating the cognitive performance of patien...
Article
Ocular prosthesis is used as a replacement in the orbit following enucleation or evisceration of the eye. Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), hydroxyapatite (HA) and porous polyethylene (PP) are some examples of the materials used in ocular prosthesis. We present a case of an 82-year-old man with prostate cancer who underwent F-NaF PET/CT imaging for e...
Article
Psoriasis is a T helper type 17 autoimmune disease associated with an increased risk cardiovascular events and mortality. Ustekinumab, an antibody to p40, blocks cytokines IL-12 and IL-23, and is a highly effective and safe treatment for psoriasis. We conducted a randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled trial to determine the effect of ustekinu...
Article
Background: There has been an increase in the number of psoriasis treatments being investigated in clinical trials. Patients may have undiagnosed issues at the start of a study which may become identified during follow-up as incident medicinal conditions. The prevalence of incidental findings in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis presentin...
Conference Paper
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Objectives: • Review the current standard imaging techniques and guidelines for atherosclerosis and dementia • Discuss the role of PET/CT/MRI in assessing cognitive impairment and dementia, with emphasis on vascular disorders • Highlight the importance of 18F Sodium Fluoride (NaF)-PET and FDG-PET in early-stage detection of carotid artery atheroscl...
Article
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Purpose We tested the hypothesis that lateralized hemispheric glucose metabolism may have diagnostic implications in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods We performed FDG-PET/CT in 23 patients (mean age 63.7 years, range 50–78, 17 females) diagnosed with AD (n = 15) or MCI (n = 8) during a six-month period in 2014....
Article
Uterine leiomyomas (fibroids) represent the most common benign pelvic tumors in women as well as the leading indication for hysterectomies in the United States. Risk factors for the development of fibroids include increasing age, hormonal changes, genetics, and race, among others. The lifetime risk of developing fibroids is greater than 80% among A...