SPECT–CT Fusion Imaging Radionuclide Lymphoscintigraphy: Potential for Limb Lymphedema Assessment and Sentinel Node Detection In Breast Cancer

Radionuclide lymphoscintigraphy (RNL) has progressively superseded lymphangiography and may be considered as the most advanced method for the assessment of the limb lymphatic system (1, 2).As a safe, noninvasive, and physiological method, RNL is commonly used in lymphology for the evaluation of limb lymphedemas and in oncology for the detection of the sentinel node (SN) (3, 4).However, conventional planar imaging sometimes failed to preoperatively identify the exact localization of the detected lymph nodes (5). Since 2000 (6), hybrid cameras combining a dual head gamma camera with a low-dose radiograph tube mounted on the same gantry were developed, and image fusion has been successfully introduced in clinical practice.We report our experience of this new imaging method in lymphology and oncology, particularly for the SN detection in patients with breast cancer.