RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Technical Aspects of Prone Dependent-Breast Scintimammography
JF Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
JO J. Nucl. Med. Technol.
FD Society of Nuclear Medicine
SP 165
OP 170
VO 22
IS 3
A1 Linda Diggles
A1 Ismael Mena
A1 Iraj Khalkhali
YR 1994
UL http://tech.snmjournals.org/content/22/3/165.abstract
AB Objective: We describe the technical aspects of scintimammography for detecting breast cancer in patients with positive mammography or positive clinical findings. Methods: Prone dependent-breast scintimammography was performed on 390 patients evaluated for the presence of breast cancer. Planar images were acquired beginning 5 min following intravenous injection of 20 mCi of 99mTc-sestamibi. Complementary imaging by SPECT was performed in 29 selected cases. Results: The prone dependent-breast position was well tolerated by patients, and resulted in high-quality images with easily identifiable anatomic landmarks. The sensitivity of scintimammography was 96% and specificity was 85% in 62 lesions with pathologic correlation. Interobserver agreement was 96% and intraobserver diagnostic variability was <5% in the initial 137 patients studied. Conclusion: The high ratio of lesion-to-background sestamibi activity and excellent separation of breast tissue from the heart and liver and anterior chest wall provides a reliable noninvasive means of breast cancer detection.