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Background: In the current clinical practice, radiometabolic therapy of Graves' disease is based on the administration of an amount of 131I-iodide defined according to two different modalities: administration of a fixed activity (up to a maximum of 555 MBq allowed by many national legislations on an outpatient basis) or an 131I-iodide activity individually defined so as to reach the certain fixed values of target thyroid-absorbed dose. The aim of this study was to prove the effectiveness of a personalized approach to cure Graves' disease based on the administration of a 131I activity defined according to the desired "optimal final thyroid mass." According to this model, one can predict the thyroid-absorbed dose following the administration of an activity as a function of the desired reduction of the baseline, pre-treatment mass of the gland. Methods: A total of 217 patients with Graves' disease were included in this study. They were randomly divided into five groups, of which four groups were divided based on fixed thyroid-absorbed dose value of 100 (Group A, n = 29), 200 (Group B, n = 25), 300 (Group C, n = 51), and 400 (Group D, n = 25), respectively, whereas patients of the final thyroid mass (mf) (Group V, n = 87) received a 131I activity calculated based on the desired "optimal" final thyroid mass according to the so-called "volume algorithm" approach. Results: At the 1-year follow-up, therapeutic success (i.e., a state of either hypothyroidism or euthyroidism) was achieved in 48% of patients in Group A (100 Gy), 64% in Group B (200 Gy), 78% in Group C (300 Gy), 96% in Group D (400 Gy), and 92% in Group V (mf). A significantly higher proportion of patients were was cured in Groups D and V (mf) than in Groups A, B, and C (P < 0.01). There was no statistical difference in cure rates between Groups D and V (mf). The median thyroid-absorbed dose was 407 Gy for Group D (400 Gy), significantly higher than 296 Gy for Group V (mf) (P < 0.001) and also significantly greater than the administered 131I activity (494 vs. 345 MBq, P < 0.001). Conclusions: This study indicates that the most effective thyroid-absorbed dose to be delivered for the radiometabolic therapy of patients with Graves' disease should not be based on a fixed dose but rather should be personalized. The new method based on thyroid mass reduction allows the optimization of 131I-iodide therapy for Graves' disease on an individual basis, achieving a high therapeutic efficacy while at the same time avoiding the administration of unjustified greater activities of 131I. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CT scan images with metal artefacts may reduce the image quality and diagnosis of CT scan images. Metal Artefact Reduction (MAR) can effectively reduce artifacts caused by metal implants. ASIR-V plays a role in reducing noise and improving image quality. To prove the reduction of metal image artefacts and optimization of CT scan image quality after the application of MAR and ASIR-V (30,60,90) of Head and Neck CT Scan by finding the value of SNR, CNR, anatomical information and the level of metal artefact interference after metal artefact reduction. Quasi-type experimental research design with pre-post test only without control group design. The study sample was 15 CT scan images of head and neck with purposive sampling. SNR and CNR measurements were quantitatively analyzed using the Wilk test, followed by the Wilcoxon test. Anatomical information assessment was performed qualitatively by two radiologists and analyzed by kappa test. Anatomical information and the level of metal artefact interference with CT scan images were carried out by the Friedman test, followed by the Wilcoxon test. There is a difference in SNR Pvalue (p=0.000<0.05), CNR Pvalue (p=0.000>0.05), anatomical information Pvalue (p=0.000<0.05), level of metal artefacts Pvalue (p=0.000<0.05) after using MAR and ASIR V. The use of MAR and ASIR-V methods can reduce metal artefacts in images that contain artefacts with the use of MAR + ASIR-V 90% the most optimal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The editorial presents that the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging has made progress in 2006. The author presents that nuclear medicine leads the field of molecular imaging which is necessary for the proper diagnosis. The author points out the complexitiesinvolved in the process to ensure that only the best articles reach publication. The article also presents a list of people being acknowledged for their assistance in the review process.