PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Hunt-Mozgala, J.
AU  - Conklin, E.R.
AU  - Cancroft, E.T.
AU  - Wasserstein, G.J.
AU  - Weitz, J.W.
AU  - Deitch, J.S.
AU  - Oster, Z.H.
AU  - Cabahug, C.
AU  - Bardfeld, P.A.
TI  - The Role of Thallium Scintimammography with Lateral Decubitus Positioning in the Diagnosis of Breast Cancer
DP  - 1996 Sep 01
TA  - Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
PG  - 213--218
VI  - 24
IP  - 3
4099  - http://tech.snmjournals.org/content/24/3/213.short
4100  - http://tech.snmjournals.org/content/24/3/213.full
SO  - J. Nucl. Med. Technol.1996 Sep 01; 24
AB  - Objective: Many different positioning techniques have been attempted in the search for the best method of imaging the breast during scintimammography. A new, effective and comfortable method of positioning the breast is described. Thallium-201-chloride is further explored as an agent to detect breast cancer. Methods: Forty-two women with either a palpable mass or abnormal mammogram were imaged in the lateral decubitus and anterior supine positions. Each patient was injected intravenously with 75–112.5 MBq (2–3 mCi) of 201TI-chloride. Planar images of 10–15 min each were obtained beginning 10 min after injection. Results: Lateral decubitus positioning was very comfortable for the patient and afforded maximum privacy. High-quality images were obtained with breast tissue and axilla clearly visualized. Breast-to-camera distance was minimized to less than 0.5 inch in many cases. The sensitivity of thallium scintimammography was 90% and the specificity was 86% in 26 lesions with pathologic correlation. The smallest lesion detected measured 0.8 cm. Conclusion: Lateral decubitus positioning in scintimammography provides an alternative to prone positioning which is sensitive, comfortable and private. Thallium-201 scintimammography employing lateral decubitus positioning has an acceptable sensitivity and specificity for detecting breast carcinoma.