Medical Imaging Grand Rounds

Speaker:  John Christoforidis, MD  

Topic:  Intraocular pharmacokinetics and systemic biodistribution of intravitreally placed I-124-labeled Avastin, Lucentis and Eylea with PET/CT

The Department of Medical Imaging is pleased to have John Christoforidis, MD, presenting at our Grand Rounds on Wednesday, November 15th, at 12:00 pm in College of Medicine, Room 2117.

Dr. Christoforidis is the Director of Vitreo-Retinal Services, Associate Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Science in the College of Medicine, The University of Arizona, and an Ophthalmology specialist at Banner University Medical Center. He received his medical degree from The Ohio State University College of Medicine and completed an internship at Mt. Carmel Medical Center, Columbus, OH, a Fellowship at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA and his residency at Maryland General Hospital. Dr. Christoforidis is board certified and has well over 2o years of experience in Ophthalmology.

Abstract:  PET/CT imaging of I-124 labeled therapeutic agents after intraocular placement is a novel methodology that has been recently used to evaluate the pharmacokinetic properties and systemic biodistribution characteristics of commonly used ophthalmologic drugs.  There are many inherent advantages of this technique over other currently-used techniques that are immunoassay-based.  This presentation seeks to introduce this radiologic methodology to the audience and demonstrate its applications on the 3 most commonly used ophthalmologic intravitreal agents.  Differences between the agents with the clinical implications will be presented and future directions will be discussed.