SPECT imaging in evaluating extent of malignant external otitis: case report

Journal Article · Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 1987 · J. Nucl. Med. Technol.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5994078

English, R J; Tu'Meh, S S; Piwnica-Worms, D; Holman, B L

Otitis externa, a benign inflammatory process of the external auditory canal, is general responsive to local therapy. Some patients however, develop a less controllable disease leading to chondritis and osteomyelitis of the base of the skull. The direct invasive characteristic of the disease has led to the descriptive term malignant external otitis (MEO), more appropriately called necrotizing or invasive external otitis. Malignant external otitis is caused by an aggressive pseudomonas or proteus infection that almost exclusively occurs in elderly diabetic patients. The primary imaging modalities previously used in the diagnosis and evaluation of MEO were standard planar scintigraphic techniques with technetium-99M (/sup 99m/Tc) bone agents and gallium-67 (/sup 67/Ga), and pluridirectional tomography. The advent of high resolution computed tomography (CT) effectively allowed demonstration of the soft tissue extension and bone destruction associated with MEO, but still suffered from the low sensitivity constraints of all radiographic techniques in determining early inflammatory bone involvement. Recent work suggests that scintigraphic detection of MEO with /sup 99m/Tc-MDP and /sup 67/Ga, combined with the cross-sectional resolution of single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) may be of value in planning treatment of this inflammatory condition.

• Research Organization: Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA
• OSTI ID: 5994078
• Journal Information: J. Nucl. Med. Technol.; (United States), Vol. 15:1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
AUDITORY ORGANS
SCINTISCANNING
SINGLE PHOTON EMISSION COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY
BACTERIAL DISEASES
DIAGNOSIS
COMPUTERIZED TOMOGRAPHY
GALLIUM 67
GAMMA CAMERAS
INFLAMMATION
ISOMERIC NUCLEI
PATIENTS
PSEUDOMONAS
TECHNETIUM 99
BACTERIA
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BODY
CAMERAS
COUNTING TECHNIQUES
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES
DISEASES
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
EMISSION COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY
GALLIUM ISOTOPES
HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
INFECTIOUS DISEASES
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
MICROORGANISMS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ORGANS
PATHOLOGICAL CHANGES
RADIOISOTOPE SCANNING
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SENSE ORGANS
SYMPTOMS
TECHNETIUM ISOTOPES
TOMOGRAPHY
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
550601* - Medicine- Unsealed Radionuclides in Diagnostics