title: Evaluation of the brain by positron emission tomography.
abstract: Positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine imaging technique for performing regional physiologic measurements in vivo. This article reviews the basic principles of PET as applied to the study of the brain, the components of PET are described, including instrumentation, radiotracers, mathematical models for calculating physiologic parameters, and methods to analyze PET data. There is special emphasis on the most commonly used methods: those to measure regional cerebral blood flow and metabolism. The interpretation of abnormalities of cerebral blood flow and metabolism is discussed and related to possible pathophysiologic mechanisms of central nervous system involvements in systemic lupus erythematosus.
authors.affiliation: PET Imaging Section, Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Herscovitch
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008433:Mathematics; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed / Q000295:instrumentation
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen