radiosynthesis-1-2-18ffluoroethyl-l-tryptophan-using-one-pot-two-step

Radiosynthesis of 1-(2-[<sup>18</sup>F]Fluoroethyl)-L-Tryptophan using a One-pot, Two-step Protocol

The kynurenine pathway (KP) is a primary route for tryptophan metabolism. Evidence strongly suggests that metabolites of the KP play a vital role in tumor ...

Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children

As childhood obesity rates rise, laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) is being investigated as a bariatric surgical option in adolescents.

Pre- and postoperative imaging of adolescents undergoing laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding surgery.

Together, leukemia and lymphoma account for half of all childhood malignancies. Leukemia and lymphoma arise from similar cell lines and can have overlapping imaging features; however, the clinical presentation, imaging strategies, and treatment protocols can vary substantially based on the specific subtype. Although imaging does not play a central role in staging or monitoring disease in childhood leukemia, findings on imaging may be the first indication of the diagnosis. Advanced imaging, especially positron emission tomography/computed tomography, has moved to the forefront of staging and treatment response evaluation in Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Imaging also plays a key role in evaluating the myriad of treatment complications that are commonly seen with chemotherapy and associated neutropenia. Future efforts will be largely focused on decreasing radiation exposure to these children, utilizing reduced or radiation-free modalities, such as positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance and diffusion-weighted whole-body imaging with background suppression, as well as refining surveillance imaging strategies. The purpose of this article is to briefly review the classification of pediatric leukemia and lymphoma, illustrate common imaging findings at presentation throughout the body, describe staging and therapeutic response evaluation, and show a spectrum of commonly encountered complications of treatment. 

Update on pediatric leukemia and lymphoma imaging.

Chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis (CRMO) is an autoinflammatory bone disease of unknown etiology. It affects children and adolescents predominantly and occurs mostly in the female population. It is characterized by the insidious onset of pain and swelling, with a fluctuating clinical course of relapses and remissions. Typically, several bones are affected, either synchronously or metachronously, and bilateral involvement is common. CRMO most commonly affects the metaphysis of long bones, especially the tibia, femur, and clavicle. The spine, pelvis, ribs, sternum, and mandible may also be affected. Although lesions are mostly multiple, patients may present with a single symptomatic focus. Radiographic findings may be negative early in the course of the disease. Bone scintigraphy is useful in determining the presence of abnormality and the extent of disease. The imaging and clinical features of CRMO overlap with those of infectious osteomyelitis, bone malignancy, and inflammatory arthritis. Nonetheless, CRMO can be confidently diagnosed with the recognition of typical imaging patterns in the appropriate clinical setting. This article reviews imaging findings with special emphasis on bone scintigraphy and specific disease sites. 

Chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis: typical patterns of bone involvement in whole-body bone scintigraphy.

Achondroplasia is the most common form of skeletal dysplasia. Although the radiographic features are well described, MRI features of the knee in achondroplasia have not been reported.

Magnetic resonance evaluation of the knee in children and adolescents with achondroplasia.

Patients with severe tracheal obstruction in Morquio A syndrome are at risk of dying of sleep apnea and related complications. Tracheal obstruction also leads to life-threatening complications during anesthesia as a result of the difficulty in managing the upper airway due to factors inherent to the Morquio A syndrome, compounded by the difficulty in intubating the trachea. A detailed description of the obstructive pathology of the trachea is not available in the literature probably due to lack of a homogenous group of Morquio A patients to study at any one particular center. We present a series of cases with significant tracheal obstruction who were unrecognized due to the difficulty in interpreting tracheal narrowing airway symptoms. Our goal is to provide the guidelines in the management of these patients that allow earlier recognition and intervention of tracheal obstruction. Sagittal MRI images of the cervical spine of 28 Morquio A patients (12±8.14years) showed that19/28 (67.9%) patients had at least 25% tracheal narrowing and that narrowing worsened with age (all 8 patients over 15years had greater than 50% narrowing). Eight out of 28 patients were categorized as severe (>75%) tracheal narrowing when images were evaluated in neutral head and neck position. Of the 19 patients with tracheal narrowing, compression by the tortuous brachiocephalic artery was the most common cause (n=15). Evidence of such tracheal narrowing was evident as early as at 2years of age. The etiology of tracheal impingement by the brachiocephalic artery in Morquio A appears to be due to a combination of the narrow thoracic inlet crowding structures and the disproportionate growth of trachea and brachiocephalic artery in relationship to the chest cavity leading to tracheal tortuosity. In conclusion, tracheal narrowing, often due to impression from the crossing tortuous brachiocephalic artery, increases with age in Morquio A patients. Greater attention to the trachea is needed when evaluating cervical spine MRIs as well as other imaging and clinical investigations, with the goal of establishing a timely treatment protocol to reduce the mortality rate in this patient population. 

Obstructive airway in Morquio A syndrome, the past, the present and the future.

Fetal brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a powerful tool in the diagnosis of symptomatic congenital cytomegalovirus infection, requiring a detailed search for specific features. A combination of anterior temporal lobe abnormalities, white matter lesions, and polymicrogyria is especially predictive. Fetal MRI may provide a unique opportunity to detect anterior temporal cysts and occipital horn septations, as dilation of these areas may decrease later in development. Cortical migration abnormalities, white matter abnormalities, cerebellar dysplasia, and periventricular calcifications are often better depicted on postnatal imaging but can also be detected on fetal MRI. We present the prenatal brain MRI findings seen in congenital cytomegalovirus infection and provide postnatal imaging correlation, highlighting the evolution of findings at different times in prenatal and postnatal developments. 

Fetal Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings In Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection With Postnatal Imaging Correlation.

Post-traumatic subperiosteal hematoma of the iliac bone may present insidiously without external evidence of bleeding or go undetected in the acute setting. In some cases, the patient may come to medical attention due to femoral nerve palsy rather than hip or groin pain. In this report, we describe a case of femoral nerve palsy caused by acute post-traumatic subperiosteal hematoma of the iliac bone using MRI to highlight the subperiosteal location. Anatomy of the femoral nerve is also discussed. 

MRI findings of post-traumatic subperiosteal hematoma of the iliac bone with resultant femoral nerve palsy in an adolescent boy.

Stress ultrasound (SUS) of the elbow has demonstrated changes in the anterior band of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in professional and high school-aged pitchers. However, there have been no large reports correlating pitching history data with SUS changes in youth and adolescent baseball pitchers.

Factors Related to Increased Ulnar Collateral Ligament Thickness on Stress Sonography of the Elbow in Asymptomatic Youth and Adolescent Baseball Pitchers.

Progressive tracheal obstruction is commonly seen in Morquio A syndrome and can lead to life-threatening complications. Although tracheostomy can address severe upper airway obstruction, lower airway obstruction, commonly associated with a narrow thoracic inlet and vascular compression, requires an alternative approach. We describe the case of a 16-year-old patient with Morquio A syndrome whose near-fatal tracheal obstruction was relieved by timely surgical tracheal vascular reconstruction with dramatic resolution of his respiratory symptoms. 

Surgical Reconstruction for Severe Tracheal Obstruction in Morquio A Syndrome.

Juvenile localized scleroderma comprises a group of autoimmune conditions often characterized clinically by an area of skin hardening. In addition to superficial changes in the skin and subcutaneous tissues, juvenile localized scleroderma may involve the deep soft tissues, bones and joints, possibly resulting in functional impairment and pain in addition to cosmetic changes.

Musculoskeletal MRI findings of juvenile localized scleroderma.

Morquio A syndrome (mucopolysaccharidosis IVA, MPS IVA) is a lysosomal storage disease caused by a deficiency of -acetylgalactosamine-6-sulfate sulfatase, resulting in systemic accumulation of the partially degraded glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), keratan sulfate and chondroitin-6-sulfate. The accumulation of these GAGs leads to distinguishing features as skeletal dysplasia with disproportionate dwarfism, short neck, kyphoscoliosis, pectus carinatum, tracheal obstruction, coxa valga, genu valgum, and joint laxity. In the absence of autopsied cases and systemic analysis of multiple tissues, the pathological mechanism of the characteristic skeletal dysplasia associated with the disease largely remains a question. Here we report an autopsied case of a 23-year-old male with MPS IVA, who developed characteristic skeletal abnormalities by 4 months of age and died of severe tracheal obstruction and hypoventilation originating from respiratory muscle weakness from neurological cord deficit due to cord myelopathy at the age of 23. We analyzed postmortem tissues pathohistologically, including the thyroid, lung, lung bronchus, trachea, heart, aorta, liver, spleen, kidney, testes, humerus, knee cartilage, and knee ligament. Examination of the tissues demonstrated systemic storage materials in multiple tissues, as well as severely ballooned and vacuolated chondrocytes in the trachea, humerus, knee cartilage, and lung bronchus. This autopsied case with MPS IVA addresses the importance of tracheal obstruction for morbidity and mortality of the disease, and the pathological findings contribute to a further understanding of the pathogenesis of MPS IVA and the development of novel therapies.

Natural history of Morquio A patient with tracheal obstruction from birth to death.

Primary malignant liver tumors are rare but all require surgical resection as part of therapy with curative intent. A minority of patients have resectable tumors at diagnosis. Chemotherapy has a therapeutic role in hepatoblastoma but only one-third of patients have resectable disease at diagnosis. Two children with hepatoblastoma and suboptimal responses to initial chemotherapy received therapy with transarterial radioembolization utilizing yttrium-90 (TARE-Y90) and had significant response leading to resection and remission. The role of TARE-Y90 needs to be studied further to define its use in primary pediatric liver neoplasms.

Successful use of transarterial radioembolization with yttrium-90 (TARE-Y90) in two children with hepatoblastoma.

Mucopolysaccharidosis type IVA (MPS IVA) is characterized by progressive skeletal dysplasia and respiratory issues with difficult airway management during anesthesia.

Tracheal narrowing in children and adults with mucopolysaccharidosis type IVA: evaluation with computed tomography angiography.

Birth trauma accounts for 1-2% of the mortality in newborns with significant intracranial injuries presenting in the immediate postnatal period. However, a significant number of asymptomatic neonates harbor birth-related intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), with birth-related subdural hemorrhage (SDH) being a common occurrence on infant brain CT and MRI studies performed as a standard of care for a variety of reasons. Although clinically insignificant, birth-related SDH is frequently brought up in courts as an alternative explanation for SDH in suspected abusive head trauma.

Lauren W. Averill

Diagnostic & Research PET/MRI Center,
Department of Radiology

Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children

Radiosynthesis of 1-(2-[¹⁸F]Fluoroethyl)-L-Tryptophan using a One-pot, Two-step Protocol

Lauren W. Averill

.css-o250i3{font-size:18px;font-family:Open Sans,sans-serif;line-height:21.6px;}Diagnostic & Research PET/MRI Center,Department of Radiology

Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children

Radiosynthesis of 1-(2-[18F]Fluoroethyl)-L-Tryptophan using a One-pot, Two-step Protocol

Diagnostic & Research PET/MRI Center,
Department of Radiology

Radiosynthesis of 1-(2-[¹⁸F]Fluoroethyl)-L-Tryptophan using a One-pot, Two-step Protocol