Current Issue April 2012 | Vol. 7, No. 2
Current Topic
April 2012
PET Imaging of Infection and Inflammation
The introduction of 18F-fluoro-2-deoxglucose (FDG) in 1976 as a joint effort between investigators at the University of Pennsylvania and Brookhaven National Laboratory opened a new era in medical imaging. Although the initial intent of scientists involved in this project was to determine central nervous system function in normal and diseased states, FDG has proven to be of great value in many other domains over the last three decades. Soon after its introduction, FDG was employed to characterize brain tumors, particularly when the differential diagnosis of tumor recurrence versus radiation-induced necrosis was of clinical concern. With the introduction of whole body imaging, numerous malignancies were examined with FDG for accurate diagnosis, staging, response to therapy, and recurrence. In fact, this application has become the most valuable contribution of this agent to the practice of medicine. However, with a wider spread utilization of this methodology, it became apparent that inflammatory reactions due to either underlying infection or autoimmune disorders are readily detected by this technique.
January 20122012 - Volume 7
PET Imaging of LymphomaRebecca L. Elstrom, MD, and Stephen J. Schuster, MD, Guest Editors
