title: Usefulness of 99mTc-tetrofosmin scintigraphy in different variants of Kaposi's sarcoma.
abstract: We investigated (99m)Tc-tetrofosmin scintigraphy in 27 patients with Kaposi's sarcoma: 20 had classic (CK), 5 AIDS-associated (AK) and 2 transplantation-associated (TK) variants. Twenty-three patients had clinically evident cutaneous and/or mucosal lesions, 9 of them with associated sarcomatous lymphadenopathy; 2 TK patients had only lymph nodes or other extracutaneous Kaposi sites. Both planar and SPECT (99m)Tc-tetrofosmin scintigraphies were performed in all cases and neck pinhole (P)-SPECT in selected patients. (99m)Tc-tetrofosmin uptake was observed in 88% of patients with clinically evident cutaneous and/or extracutaneous Kaposi lesions. Scintigraphy gave additional information on cutaneous lesion extent, particularly SPECT regarding deep invasion and subclinical sites in some cases. However, scintigraphy was less sensitive in the detection of small, isolated and scattered lesions. SPECT/P-SPECT were positive in 8/8 patients with sarcomatous lymph nodes, planar imaging in 5/8, ultrasonography in 7/8, while all procedures were negative in 6 other patients with reactive or HIV infection lymph nodes. SPECT demonstrated lymphadenopathy remission in 1 TK patient after immunosuppressive therapy modification and, like planar imaging, ascertained an associated lymphoma with (67)Ga-citrate combined. (99m)Tc-tetrofosmin scintigraphy, especially SPECT, can be useful both in the detection and staging of Kaposi sarcoma lesions as a complementary tool to clinical and other conventional diagnostic methods.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Spanu
authors.forename: Gr
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Madeddu
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cottoni
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Manca
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Migaleddu
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chessa
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Masala
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cossu
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Falchi
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Mura
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Madeddu
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002951:Citrates; D004379:Duodenal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005708:Gallium; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009943:Organophosphorus Compounds; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000379:methods; D014067:Tonsillar Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D002951:Citrates; D009943:Organophosphorus Compounds; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; C078700:technetium tc-99m tetrofosmin; D005708:Gallium; C103850:gallium citrate