What is a pet ct scan used for?

CT's define: Anatomy; pet's assess energy consumption (metabolism). Put them together and you see what is bigger than it supposed to be, what's in the neighborhood, and what consumes energy...And the price and cost are quite high.

Physiology of lesion: Pet scans most often use a radioactive form of glucose, the energy source for most of the cells in our bodies. The pet scanner can detect and measure how much of the radioactive glucose analog, f-18 fdg, is in a particular organ or region. The areas using more glucose are hyper metabolic and generally more worrisome. Our brains and sometimes hearts prefer glucose as food, making it hard to see.

PET tracers..: There are many pet tracers which can be used for different indications. Some indications include cardiac perfusion, oncologic imaging, and beta amyloid plaque imaging for alzheimer's. Most commonly the FDG (glucose) tracer is used for oncologic purposes.

Several uses: In most cases PET CT scan is used for detecting metatases in the body. It can also be used for brain with mets, primary tumors, and epilepsy. Injection of glucose metabolite F18 FDG goes to malignant lesions that are highly metabolic,. Usually more sensitive for detecting smaller lesions. Used in staging malignancies and following patient's response to chemotherapy and radiation