Gühne F, Drescher R, Seifert P, Freesmeyer M. Supplemental minimal-activity PET/CT to validate ambiguous findings with less than 1 mSv: Proof of concept.
J Med Imaging Radiat Oncol 2021;
65:201-207. [PMID:
33606349 DOI:
10.1111/1754-9485.13164]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2020] [Accepted: 02/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Short-term follow-up examinations could verify ambiguous findings in PET/CT diagnostics, but are often avoided due to radiation and financial burdens. We demonstrate the feasibility of a focused, minimal-activity PET protocol as a supplemental examination for uncertain findings after standard PET/CT. After changing conditions, e.g. patient positioning, preparation and bypassing an interval as well as a targeted tracer change, an additional examination with less than 1 mSv of additional radiation exposure was performed. Lowered administered activity of radiopharmaceuticals could be compensated by prolonged acquisition time, which was made possible by the limitation to a single body region. A sufficient visual and quantitative image quality of scans could be achieved. In all cases, the ambiguous finding could be clarified, so further diagnostic procedures or unnecessary interventions were avoided.
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