Liver PET Reloaded: Automated Synthesis of [68Ga]Ga-BP-IDA for Positron Imaging of the Hepatobiliary Function and First Clinical Experience

Anke Werner; Martin Freesmeyer; Christian Kühnel; Robert Drescher; Julia Greiser

doi:10.3390/diagnostics13061144

Liver PET Reloaded: Automated Synthesis of [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-BP-IDA for Positron Imaging of the Hepatobiliary Function and First Clinical Experience

Diagnostics (Basel). 2023 Mar 16;13(6):1144. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics13061144.

Authors

Anke Werner¹, Martin Freesmeyer¹, Christian Kühnel¹, Robert Drescher¹, Julia Greiser¹

Affiliation

¹ Clinic of Nuclear Medicine, Jena University Hospital, Am Klinikum 1, 07747 Jena, Germany.

Abstract

Hepatobiliary scintigraphy is a well-established nuclear imaging method for evaluating liver function and displaying the biliary system, but the spatial and temporal resolution is limited, and, there is still no established PET equivalent. Adapted from the work of Schuhmacher et al. in 1983, the production of a ⁶⁸Gallium-labeled substitute, tetrabromophthalein ([⁶⁸Ga]Ga-BP-IDA), was undertaken according to current Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards and proved feasible and reproducible. PET/CT with the radiotracer was performed in two complex patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in preparation for transarterial radioembolization. Due to its high spatial and temporal resolution, localization of areas with impaired liver function and visualization of the biliary system were possible. We could demonstrate that this ⁶⁸Gallium-labeled, IDA-based PET tracer is feasible and could advance hepatic and biliary function PET imaging.

Keywords: HCC; IDA derivatives; PET/CT; dynamic PET; hepatobiliary imaging; liver function.

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.