title: [Nuclear medicine imaging: new radiotracers and future techniques].
abstract: Nuclear medicine imaging is based upon positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging. PET and SPECT are widely used in patients with medically refractory partial epilepsy. For clinical purposes, PET is performed using FDG and SPECT is performed using perfusion agents. PET is also used to better understand the pathophysiological mechanisms of epilepsies. New radiotracers are available for PET and SPECT imaging such as (18)F-fluoro-L-Dopa and (123)I-FP-CIT and others are under development. In addition, there are currently new methodological developments combining techniques such as SPECT associated with computed tomography and in the near future PET combined with MRI. This progress will improve the performance of nuclear medicine imaging techniques.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de médecine nucléaire et de recherche biomédicale, service hospitalier Frédéric-Joliot, institut d'imagerie biomédicale, commissariat à l'énergie atomique, 4, place du Général-Leclerc, 91401 Orsay cedex, France. frank.semah@cea.fr
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Semah
mesh_terms: D004827:Epilepsy / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals