FDG PET/CT findings in a clinically diagnosed case of childhood autism.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder with multifactorial etiology and varied presentation, in which early diagnosis is crucial to the implementation of early treatment. A 6-year-old child clinically diagnosed with autism, and a normal magnetic resonance imaging underwent dedicated 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose brain positron emission tomography (PET) as an ancillary investigation. PET image showed diffuse bilateral temporal hypometabolism. Although PET imaging is currently not indicated in the evaluation of autism, characteristic imaging patterns on PET can provide corroborative information and increase the diagnostic confidence for the same.
Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET/CT, Bombay Hospital and Medical Research Centre, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Ashmi S
AS
Manglunia
Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET/CT, Bombay Hospital and Medical Research Centre, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Ameya D
AD
Puranik
Autism; brain positron emission tomography; functional imaging