Nuclear medicine procedures and the evaluation of male sexual organs: a short review

Sexuality consists of three aspects that are interrelated and inseparable, biological, physiological and social. The biological aspect considers the individual's capability to give and to receive pleasure. In consequence, it covers the functionality of the sexual organs and the physiology of human sexual response cycle. Diagnostic imaging modalities, such as single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) have been used to evaluate clinical disorders of the male reproductive system. PET and SPECT procedures basically involve the administration of a radiopharmaceutical that has a higher uptake in a specific tumor or tissue. The aim of this brief review is to present some radiopharmaceuticals that have been used in the clinical evaluation of the male sexual organs (testes, prostate, seminal vesicles, penis) related with male sexuality. This information could be useful in better understanding the male sexual response cycle, as well as the sexual disorders, when considering the male sexual organs and the pelvic floor. Moreover, the findings obtained with PET and SPECT imaging could help to evaluate the efficacy of clinical results of therapeutic procedures. In conclusion, the knowledge from these images could aid in better understanding the physiology of the different organs related with sexuality. Furthermore, they could be important tools to evaluate the physiological integrity of the involved organs, to improve clinical strategies and to accompany the patients under treatment

Cornerstone of healthcare: awareness and compliance of patient safety measures in a large tertiary care hospital

Background: The study was done to assess the awareness and compliance of patient safety measures among healthcare providers and patients in a tertiary care hospital in India, ascertain the gap in both the aspects, if any and recommend the measures to improve the same.Methods: Cross sectional study in which patient safety survey was administered to random sample of 400 healthcare providers and 200 inpatients. The awareness was assessed through predefined questionnaires and compliance was assessed by observation, demonstration of processes, audit of patient files and interview of patients. Descriptive statistics analyzed with SPSS. Data was analyzed using frequencies, percentages and using Chi-square test.Results: The level of awareness was acceptable among healthcare providers, but the compliance was not satisfactory. Thus, gap was significant for certain parameters. The range of awareness among the patients was wide as study included patients of varying demographic and educational level. The range of compliance was also wide but was low. Thus, the gap was significant.Conclusions: As a result of continuous training of the healthcare providers, the awareness was satisfactory but on the other hand, they were not complying which may be due to workload, forgetfulness, lack of resources etc. On the other hand, the level of awareness was found to be low among patients and compliance was further lower down the ladder which may be due to difference in education, socioeconomic status, hesitation to enquire etc

Targeting the hypoxic fraction of tumours using hypoxia activated prodrugs

The presence of a microenvironment within most tumours containing regions of low oxygen tension or hypoxia has profound biological and therapeutic implications. Tumour hypoxia is known to promote the development of an aggressive phenotype, resistance to both chemotherapy and radiotherapy and is strongly associated with poor clinical outcome. Paradoxically, it is recognised as a high priority target and one therapeutic strategies designed to eradicate hypoxic cells in tumours are a group of compounds known collectively as hypoxia activated prodrugs (HAPs) or bioreductive drugs. These drugs are inactive prodrugs that require enzymatic activation (typically by 1 or 2 electron oxidoreductases) to generate cytotoxic species with selectivity for hypoxic cells being determined by (i) the ability of oxygen to either reverse or inhibit the activation process and (ii) the presence of elevated expression of oxidoreductases in tumours. The concepts underpinning HAP development were established over 40 years ago and have been refined over the years to produce a new generation of HAPs that are under preclinical and clinical development. The purpose of this article is to describe current progress in the development of HAPs focusing on the mechanisms of action, preclinical properties and clinical progress of leading examples

Rhodamine-Sulphuric Acid -A New Visualization Reagent for the Determination of Sucralose by HPTLC

Sucralose a UV-visible inactive compound was separated on silica gel plate without any plate treatment prior to analysis, derivatized with rhodamine - sulphuric acid reagent and detected densitometrically at 456 nm as olive green band. With this reagent sucralose also shows golden yellow fluorescence at 366 nm. Two new solvent systems i.e. chloroform: methanol: toluene (v/v 5:3.5:1.5) (solvent system-I) and chloroform: ethanol: benzene (v/v 5:3:2) (solvent system-II) were developed and giving Rf values of 0.62 and 0.45 respectively. The method was found to be sensitive with good limit of detection (LOD) for two solvent systems. The method imparts specificity to the method as at 456 nm sucralose only gives olive green color spots where as other artificial sweeteners did not show any response to this reagent, where as carbohydrates gives black color spots. Similarly sucralose gives golden yellow fluorescence at 366 nm which is not given by any other artificial sweetener. The method was highly reproducible with relative standard deviation (RSD)≤3% (n=3) and was applied for the determination of sucralose in different matrices like cola drinks, lemon juices, sugar free sweets, tabletop sweeteners etc.etc

Discovery of a tephra bed in the Quaternary alluvial sediments of Pune district (Maharashtra), Peninsular India

This article does not have an abstract

Early prediction of treatment response to high-dose salvage chemotherapy in patients with relapsed germ cell cancer using [18F]FDG PET

To assess the ability of [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography for the early prediction of response in patients with relapsed metastatic germ cell tumours undergoing salvage high-dose chemotherapy. The role of positron emission tomography was compared with established means of tumour response assessment such as CT scans/MRI and serum tumour marker changes. In addition, positron emission tomography was compared with a current prognostic score which differentiates three prognostic groups with failure-free survival rates ranging from 5–50%. [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose uptake of metastases from germ cell tumours as well as CT scans and serum tumour marker were acquired after 2–3 cycles of induction chemotherapy but before the start of high-dose chemotherapy and CT scans/serum tumour marker were compared with the baseline examinations in 23 patients with relapsed germ cell tumours. To evaluate the validity of early response prediction by positron emission tomography, radiological monitoring and serum tumour marker decline, histopathologic response after resection of residual masses and/or the clinical course over 6 months after the end of treatment (relapse vs freedom of progression) were used. Overall, 10 patients (43%) achieved a marker-negative partial remission, three (13%) a marker-positive partial remission, five (22%) a disease stabilization and five (22%) progressed during treatment. Nine patients (39%) remained progression-free over 6 months following treatment, whereas 14 (61%) progressed. The outcome of high-dose chemotherapy was correctly predicted by positron emission tomography/CT scan/serum tumour marker in 91/59/48%. Eight patients with a favourably predicted outcome by CT scans plus serum tumour marker but a positive positron emission tomography prior to high-dose chemotherapy, failed treatment. This results in the following sensitivities/specificities for the prediction of failure of high-dose chemotherapy: positron emission tomography 100/78%; radiological monitoring 43/78%; serum tumour marker 15/100%. The positive and negative predictive values of positron emission tomography were 88 and 100%, respectively. As compared with the prognostic score, positron emission tomography was correctly positive in all patients of the three risk groups who failed treatment. In addition, a negative positron emission tomography correctly predicted a favourable outcome in the good and intermediate group. [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography imaging can be used to assess response to chemotherapy in patients with relapsed germ cell tumours early in the course of treatment and may help to identify patients most likely to achieve a favourable response to subsequent high-dose chemotherapy. In patients with response to induction chemotherapy according to CT scans or serum tumour marker evaluation, positron emission tomography seems to add information to detect patients with an overall unfavourable outcome. It may also be a valuable addition to the prognostic model particularly in the good and intermediate group for further selection of patients who will profit from high-dose chemotherapy