What part of the body does a whole pet scan show?

Eyes to thighs: Even though the study is called whole body pet/ct, most often the image acquisition is from the eyes to thighs. The parts of the body that are included varies from center to center and also depends on the patient's symptoms and cancer histopathology. For e.g. Melanomas can metastasize anywhere in the body and thus real whole body scans are obtained (skull vertex to toes).

Cell metabolism: Pet is positron emission tomography. Radioactive agents are injected into the body that are taken up by cells as they metabolize. Abnormal cells in tumors will take up more agent and in a manner that helps to define just have bad the tumor is. During treatment, the pet will help document effect on the tumor cells and improvement in normal function. Pet by definition is whole body.

Usu skull to thigh: Pet/ct is most often performed from the skull base to the upper thighs, but depending on the indication, the entire body (from the top of the head to the tips of the toes) can be imaged.

Whole body: The pet scan can be used to image the entire body.

Eyes to thighs: Even though the study is called whole body pet/ct, most often the image acquisition is from the eyes to thighs. The parts of the body that are included vary from center to center and also depends on the patient's symptoms and histopathology. For e.g. Melanomas can metastasize anywhere in the body and thus real whole body scans are usually obtained (skull vertex to toes).

Usu skull to thigh: Pet/ct is most often performed from the skull base to the upper thighs, but depending on the indication, the entire body (from the top of the head to the tips of the toes) can be imaged.