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

Journal Article · Sun Mar 01 04:00:00 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), Journal Name: J. Nucl. Med. Technol.; (United States) Vol. 15:1; ISSN JNMTB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

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