Decompression illness in sports divers detected with technetium-99m-HMPAO SPECT and texture analysis.
Diving for sport and recreation has increased in recent years, resulting in more incidences of diving illness. Therefore, we studied potential use of regional cerebral blood flow SPECT imaging with 99mTc-HMPAO in the management of divers who have experienced decompression illness (DCI).


METHODS
A group of ten sports divers who had no experience of DCI were compared with ten sports divers who had experienced at least one episode of DCI. Transaxial SPECT images were first compared objectively using a first-order texture measure and then subjectively using a receiver operator characteristic (ROC) experiment. Experienced observers were asked to rate images subjectively in terms of the images' textural appearance.


RESULTS
Both these techniques showed that there is a statistically significant difference between the two groups and the images produced by the DCI divers were generally more coarsely patchy when compared to the non DCI divers. The quantitative texture technique proved significantly better in identifying divers with DCI than the visual analysis by observers using ROC curves.


CONCLUSIONS
Differences between the cerebral blood flow patterns of sports divers who have experienced DCI and sports divers who have no experience of DCI can be detected using 99mTc-HMPAO SPECT and a texture analysis technique.
Staff
R T
RT
University of Aberdeen, Department of Bio-Medical Physics and Bio-Engineering, Aberdeen Royal Hospitals, Scotland, United Kingdom.
Gemmell
H G
HG
Duff
P M
PM
Sharp
P F
PF
Wilcock
S E
SE
Shields
T G
TG
Smith
F W
FW
D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D003665:Decompression Sickness / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D004242:Diving / Q000293:injuries*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D010091:Oximes; D012372:ROC Curve; D019690:Technetium Tc 99m Exametazime; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D010091:Oximes; D019690:Technetium Tc 99m Exametazime