ABSTRACT
PET-computed tomography (CT) and SPECT/CT have been successfully integrated and translated into the clinical practice of oncology, cardiology, and neurology. They have also emerged as valuable tools for managing many other disorders, including degenerative, endocrine, and infectious or inflammatory diseases. This chapter includes a brief review of the history of PET/CT and SPECT/CT, followed by a discussion of
17.1 Introduction 439
17.1.1 Brief history of PET/CT and SPECT/CT imaging 440
17.2 State-of-the-art PET/CT and SPECT/CT systems and protocols 441
17.2.1 PET/CT 441
17.2.2 State-of-the-art SPECT/CT systems and protocols 441
17.3 Advantages of PET/CT and SPECT/CT imaging 442
17.4 Reading molecular and metabolic disease signatures with PET and SPECT 444
17.4.1 PET: molecular imaging modalities enable the phenotyping of cancer 444
17.4.2 SPECT 448
17.5 Specific applications of PET/CT and SPECT/CT in oncology 451
17.5.1 PET/CT in oncology 451
17.5.2 SPECT/CT in oncology 453
17.5.3 SPECT/CT and PET/CT imaging of metastatic bone disease 453
17.6 Probing functional and molecular signatures of the heart with PET and SPECT 454
17.6.1 Cardiac PET/CT 454
17.6.2 Cardiac SPECT/CT imaging 455
17.7 Insights into brain function and metabolism with PET and SPECT 456
17.7.1 PET applications in neurology 456
17.7.2 SPECT applications in neurology 459
17.8 Impact of PET/CT on patient management and outcome 459
17.9 Impact of SPECT/CT on patient management and outcome 459
17.10 Summary 460
References 460
current state-of-the-art instrumentation and a presentation of their major clinical applications. PET/MRI is not addressed in this chapter since its clinical value has not yet been established [1].
