title: Detection of esophageal carcinoma using single-photon emission computed tomography of thallium-201: a preliminary report.
abstract: The aim of this preliminary study was to evaluate the potential usefulness of thallium-201 (Tl-201) in detecting esophageal carcinoma. A total of 15 patients with esophageal carcinoma were arranged for Tl-201 single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) of the chest. Thirteen of the patients had epidermoid carcinoma and two had adenocarcinoma. Meanwhile, 7 normal controls without any history of esophageal disease also accepted Tl-201 SPECT of the chest for comparison. From the 15 patients, Tl-201 chest SPECT detected esophageal carcinoma in 13 (86.7%) but not in 2 (13.3%) patients with epidermoid carcinoma. In contrast, all 7 normal controls (100.0%) had negative results of Tl-201 chest SPECT. Our study showed that the Tl-201 chest SPECT scan could be considered as a non-invasive useful imaging method in detection of esophageal carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, China Medical College Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Shih
authors.forename: N Y
authors.initials: NY
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Teng
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Kao
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013794:Thallium Radioisotopes; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D013794:Thallium Radioisotopes