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What are the advantages?
Research has shown that PET/CT can effectively pinpoint the source of many of the most common cancers. Whole-body PET inspects all organ systems of the body to search for the cancer in a single examination. If cancer has spread, PET will expose it. Follow-up scans will reveal if cancer has recurred.
Also, PET/CT can give physicians important early information about cardiac and neurological diseases, streamlining testing and decreasing the need for invasive biopsies. Because PET/CT scans provide images of the body’s chemistry, many diseases can be seen in their earliest stages.
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Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a very powerful imaging medical device. It allows the physician to detect cancer, heart disease and brain disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease. This new imaging technology merges PET and CT into one combined scanning system. The anatomical pictures produced by the CT scanner can be merged with the molecular images from PET to produce a more accurate test.
What is PET?
Your physician has ordered a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan for you. PET images can provide information about many conditions affecting the heart, brain, and other organs, which will help your doctor plan appropriate treatment for you.
PET images are different than those images from more conventional radiology studies, such as X-Ray, CT, Ultrasound, or MRI. These routine radiology procedures show what the tissues look like by making pictures of the different organ structures.
PET images contain information about the body’s chemistry, cell function, and exact location of disease. The PET image represents unique information about the physiology of organ systems. PET scans combined with the standard radiology anatomy give your doctor more powerful information that can affect your care.
PET/CT Benefits
- Earlier diagnosis
- Monitors effects of therapy
- Can eliminate invasive procedures
- Replaces multiple tests
- Serves as a pre-surgical assessment
- Reduces or eliminates unnecessary surgical
or medical treatments
- Identifies distant tumors
- Can tell the difference between scar tissue
and tumor recurrence
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