Wouter van der Bruggen

Slingeland Ziekenhuis · Department of Nuclear Medicine

Tarsal coalition (TC) is a congenital abnormal connection (fibrous, cartilaginous, or osseous) between two or more bones in the hind and midfoot, mostly consisting of calcaneonavicular or talocalcaneal coalition, and is often asymptomatic. However, TCs may result in foot motion limitation and pain with or without flatfoot (pes planus), arising in a...

We present two patients with fibrous dysplasia who showed a decrease in lesional size and activity after denosumab therapy. Both patients also experienced a reduction in pain and bone turnover markers, which had not been accomplished during previous bisphosphonate therapy. These cases highlight the potential of denosumab to decrease lesional size i...

Context The correlation between Fibrous Dysplasia/McCune-Albright syndrome (FD/MAS) skeletal disease burden on Na[18F]F-PET-CT and serum bone turnover markers (BTMs) was recently described. The effect of treatment on lesional fluoride burden in FD/MAS is unknown. Objective To investigate treatment response measurements in FD/MAS patients who under...

Purpose: To quantify Na18F-PET/CT uptake in relation to clinical and biochemical parameters of fibrous dysplasia (FD) severity and healthy bone (HB) metabolism. Secondary aims: comparing normalization for volume of distribution and determining reproducibility of Na18F-PET/CT uptake parameters in HB and FD. Relating Na18F uptake to skeletal burden...

Purpose Diagnosis of spinal infection (SI) is challenging and usually requires multiple tests. We aimed to perform a systematic review and a bivariate meta-analysis on the diagnostic role of ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT in patients with SI. Methods A comprehensive literature search of studies published through February 2019 in PubMed/MEDLINE and Cochrane librar...

A 49-year-old woman developed an anaphylactic reaction to Tc-99m macrosalb used for pulmonary scintigraphy. The patient received an intravenous injection of Tc-99m macrosalb 120 MBq, containing macroaggregates of human albumin 0.14 mg. Within 1 min she developed itching all over her body, an itching throat and dyspnoea. This was followed by urticar...

Background Single photon emission tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) combines the strengths of bone scintigraphy and CT and serve as an important alternative to magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in carpal trauma patients if conventional x-rays are equivocal. Case presentation In a young patient with pain 4 days after carpal trauma conventiona...

Back pain is a common problem and the diagnosis and treatment depend on the clinical presentation, yet overlap between pain syndromes is common. Imaging of patients with chronic back pain in both pre- and postoperative scenarios include radiological, radionuclide, and hybrid techniques. In general, these techniques have their own advantages and lim...

Consecutive milestones in hip arthroplasty design and surgical technique have contributed to the successful and cost-effective intervention this procedure has become today in maintaining mobility and quality of life in patients with osteoarthritis, fracture, or other hip conditions. With the increasing prevalence of hip joint replacements, the need...

In this review we summarize the current evidence and experience regarding the performance of SPECT/CT in the evaluation of patients with postoperative painful wrist or hand. There is a wide range of operative wrist and hand interventions due to congenital, traumatic, degenerative, or inflammatory diseases. A significant number of patients suffer fr...

This review summarizes the role of SPECT/CT in patients with a painful postoperative knee and describes typical diagnostic criteria in these patients. Pain after knee surgery is common and is influenced by the underlying pathology, the type of surgery, and the patient. Knee joint-preserving surgery includes osteotomy, ligament reconstruction, menis...

A vast spectrum of lower limb bone and joint disorders (hip, knee, ankle, foot) present with a common clinical presentation: limping. Too often this symptom generates an inefficient cascade of imaging studies. This review attempts to optimise the diagnostic effectiveness of bone scintigraphy using the hybrid SPECT/CT technique in relation to the di...

Postoperative pain is a clinically relevant issue in orthopedic patients, affecting more than 40% 1 year after foot and ankle surgery. Because of the very complex anatomy with many different joints and several motion axes, clinical examination and conventional imaging are sometimes not sufficient to identify a local pain generator. Local uptake of...

This review aims to describe the current status of benign bone marrow (BM) imaging using PET. BM imaging is important as the BM is not only involved in poiesis of different vital cell lines and can be affected by primary BM disorders, but it is also frequently affected by several extramedullary diseases. Indications for the use of PET in benign BM...

Purpose: The radionuclide bone scan is the cornerstone of skeletal nuclear medicine imaging. Bone scintigraphy is a highly sensitive diagnostic nuclear medicine imaging technique that uses a radiotracer to evaluate the distribution of active bone formation in the skeleton related to malignant and benign disease, as well as physiological processes....

No abstract available.

A 40-year-old patient had been analyzed because of a solitary nodule in the thyroid, including thyroid scintigraphy with TcO4 showing only slightly decreased uptake in the lower right lobe in an otherwise normal thyroid. Five years later, this patient presented with hyperthyroidism and a painful neck. This time thyroid scintigraphy showed single fo...

In early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), presence of lymphatic micrometastases and isolated tumor cells, primarily detected by immunohistochemistry, is suggested to be a prognostic factor. However, there is no consensus whether immunohistochemistry should be used routinely in lymph node assessment.The goal of our study was to determine wh...

To review the literature on diagnostic accuracy and clinical value of single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) for imaging of bone and joint infections. The PubMed/MEDLINE and Embase (OvidSP) literature databases were systematically searched for publications on SPECT and PET on osteomyelitis and pros...

Talc pleurodesis induces a strong local inflammatory reaction which can be detected by PET scan for years after the procedure. When patients undergo PET scanning in the workup of a suspected malignancy later in life, pleural FDG uptake may unnecessarily lead to an additional invasive diagnostic workup. We present two cases of positive pleural PET f...