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Whole Body Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography

Article information

J Korean Med Assoc. 2006;49(11):1027-1034
Publication date (electronic) : 2006 November 30
doi : https://doi.org/10.5124/jkma.2006.49.11.1027
Joon Young Choi, MD, Byung-Tae Kim, MD
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Korea. jynm.choi@samsung.com, btnm.kim@samsung.com

Abstract

Whole body positron emission tomography (PET) using F-18 Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) has been used for characterizing focal lesions, initial staging, monitoring recurrence, and post-therapeutic follow-up in various malignant tumors. A recently developed integrated PET/computed tomography (CT) scanner is able to perform hardware-based image fusion of functional PET and anatomical CT images with ease and high registration accuracy. F-18 FDG PET/CT is more useful than conventional PET due to the shorter scan time and easy differential diagnosis between physiological and pathological uptake, allowing for accurate anatomical localization, improved diagnostic confidence and accuracy, and better radiation therapy planning. The application of F-18 FDG PET/CT in oncology practice is on its sharp rise in Korea due to the recent change of the reimbursement system to allow insurance coverage along with its wide range of clinical utilities. Whole body PET/CT deserves a particular attention as a useful diagnostic imaging modality in oncology practice.

Keywords: Positron emission tomography; PET/CT; F-18 Fluorodeoxyglucose; Cancer

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Article information Continued

Copyright © 2006 Korean Medical Association

Figure 1

Figure 1

Cellular uptake mechanism of F-18 FDG as a PET tracer compared with that of glucose

Figure 2

Figure 2

Representative example of a commercialized integrated PET/CT scanner

Figure 3

Figure 3

A 60-year-old female patient with right lung cancer had an abnormal focal F-18 FDG uptake in the right lower neck area mimicking N3 lymph node metastasis. However, fused PET/CT images revealed that it was a focal lesion in the right thyroid gland, which was proved to be a papillary thyroid cancer by fine needle aspiration cytology and biopsy

Table 1

Current conditions for medical insurance coverage of F-18 FDG PET for cancer in Korea

Table 1