Somatostatin receptor scintigraphy in thymoma imaging method and clinical application

Somatostatin receptor scintigraphy with In-111-[DTPA-D-Phe(1)]-octreotide h as the potential for visualizing primary and recurrent thymomas in patients with myasthenia gravis, whereas thymic hyperplasias fail to accumulate som atostatin analog peptides. We demonstrate somatostatin receptor imaging fin dings in a patient with a mixed encapsulated thymoma which exhibited intens e In-111-[DTPA-D-Phe(1)] -octreotide uptake in early and late scans. In ano ther patient with a history of malignant thymoma In-111-[DTPA-D-Phe(1)] -oc treotide accumulation was clearly seen in a mass suspected to be a recurren ce. This paper describes the imaging protocol including Single Photon Emiss ion Computed Tomography (SPECT) and discusses the clinical applications of this feasible functional imaging method in patients with thymomas.