title: Positron Emission Tomography.
abstract: Positron emission tomography (PET) is a minimally invasive imaging procedure with a wide range of clinical and research applications. PET allows for the three-dimensional mapping of administered positron-emitting radiopharmaceuticals such as (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (for imaging glucose metabolism). PET enables the study of biologic function in both health and disease, in contrast to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT), that are more suited to study a body's morphologic changes, although functional MRI can also be used to study certain brain functions by measuring blood flow changes during task performance. This chapter first provides an overview of the basic physics principles and instrumentation behind PET methodology, with an introduction to the merits of merging functional PET imaging with anatomic CT or MRI imaging. We then focus on clinical neurologic disorders, and reference research on relevant PET radiopharmaceuticals when applicable. We then provide an overview of PET scan interpretation and findings in several specific neurologic disorders such as dementias, epilepsy, movement disorders, infection, cerebrovascular disorders, and brain tumors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Tufts University, Boston and Department of Radiology, Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, MA, USA. Electronic address: klameka@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lameka
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Farwell
authors.affiliation: Molecular Neuroimaging Program, Molecular Imaging Center, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Anagawa, Inage, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ichise
mesh_terms: D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
keywords: (18)F-FDG; PET/CT; PET/MRI; coincidence detection; neuroimaging; positron emission tomography