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Radionuclide imaging of salivary glands is a noninvasive functional imaging modality that can assess perfusion, concentration, and excretory function of major salivary glands. The technique was first introduced by Boerner et al. in 1965 and subsequently modified by others [1].

Bile acid malabsorption (BAM) causing chronic diarrhea may be due to organic as well as functional disorders, and some of them were included under the general label of diarrheic-type irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D). The 75-selenium homocholic acid taurine (SeHCAT) test is a nuclear medicine investigation considered to be the gold standard for the diagnosis of bile acid malabsorption (BAM). Many studies demonstrate that it could be effective in the clinical workout of chronic diarrhea due to different conditions. The SeHCAT test provides a quantitative assessment to estimate the severity of BAM and the possible response to therapy with bile acid sequestrants (BASs). However, there is no general agreement regarding its cutoff value and the test is not widely available. The aim of this review is to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the SeHCAT test in clinical practice.

In this issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, Antoniou et al. describe a novel scintigraphic procedure designed to evaluate in a physiologic manner the transit of both the liquid and the solid components of a meal through virtually the entire gastrointestinal tract, starting with esophageal

Il fegato e l’organo piu voluminoso dell’organismo. Classicamente e suddiviso in lobo destro e lobo sinistro, separati tra loro dall’inserzione del legamento falciforme. A livello dell’ilo penetrano all’interno del fegato due collettori ematici, l’arteria epatica e la vena porta, e fuoriesce un collettore biliare (dotto epatico comune). La vena porta e l’arteria epatica danno origine a un ramo destro e uno sinistro, diretti verso i rispettivi lobi epatici. La successiva suddivisione di questi vasi e di tipo segmentario. In totale nel fegato si riconoscono 8 segmenti: nel lobo sinistro sono compresi i segmenti II e III, nel destro il IV, V, VI, VII e VIII (Fig. 24.1). Il primo segmento e costituito dal lobo caudato, che rappresenta un’entita autonoma per quanto riguarda l’apporto vascolare e il drenaggio biliare. Ogni segmento epatico (individuato da una diramazione della vena porta, dell’arteria epatica e da una radice del sistema delle vie biliari) rappresenta un’unita morfo-funzionale, che puo contrarre una malattia in modo indipendente e puo essere resecato chirurgicamente senza il coinvolgimento di quelli adiacenti. Open image in new window Fig. 24.1 Suddivisione in segmenti del fegato

[18F]-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET) is considered a valuable tool in the diagnosis and staging of cancer. In addition, it seems promising as a technique to monitor response to therapy. Progress is hampered, however, by the fact that various methods for the analysis of uptake of FDG in tumours have been described and that it is by no means clear whether these methods have the same sensitivity for monitoring response to treatment. As interest in monitoring response using FDG PET is growing, the danger exists that non-optimal methods will be used for evaluation. Hence an overview of the various analytical methods is given, highlighting both advantages and shortcomings of each of the methods. The ideal analytical method for response monitoring should represent an optimal trade-off between accuracy and simplicity (clinical applicability). At present, that trade-off still needs to be defined. Studies relating response, as measured with any of the available analytical methods, to outcome are urgently needed. Until then response monitoring studies should be conducted in such a way that all analytical methods can be compared with the most quantitative one, which at present is full compartmental modelling of the data.

Le ghiandole salivari sono ghiandole esocrine di tipo acinoso, semplice o composto, che producono saliva.