Speaker
Annibale Versari
(Azienda Ospedaliera Arcispedale Santa Maria Nuova)
Description
PET/CT is an imaging device which allows to have information “in vivo” about biology (PET) and morphology (CT) of tissues. Many radiopharmaceuticals are available to evaluate the functional aspects of tumors and organs. The most common agent is 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), expression of glucose metabolism, mainly used in oncology but other interesting radiotracers can evaluate cell proliferation, hypoxia and receptor expression. Clinical applications of PET/CT are also in inflammation, neurology and cardiology diseases. PET/CT imaging has often a strong impact on patient management but sometimes the information is not sufficient or optimal. Limitations are due to radiotracer characteristics, technical and physical aspects and methodology. These limitations can be filled by other technologies (PET/MRI? Endoscopy? Dedicated detectors?) and it is an interesting challenge for present and future.
