PET in pediatric diseases.
FDG-PET is being increasingly applied to pediatric conditions, particularly in oncology. PET and PET/CT scanning in children are not currently supported by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services unless the disease condition coincides with a reimbursed adult condition. The recent merger of the Children's Cancer Group and the Pediatric Oncology Group to form the Children's Oncology Group creates an opportunity to examine the use of FDG-PET in the management of childhood tumors in multi-institutional, cooperative efforts. The interest in incorporating PET imaging technology in pediatric medicine has been evidenced by several recent review articles summarizing the ongoing progress in this area. Future data will show that FDG-PET provides useful diagnostic information and can play a pivotal role in the clinical management and care of children with disease.
Jadvar
Hossein
H
Division of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Radiology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, 1200 North State Street, GNH 5250, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA. jadvar@usc.edu
Alavi
Abass
A
Mavi
Ayse
A
Shulkin
Barry L
BL
D002648:Child; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography