REVIEW - Imaging of inflammation by PET, conventional scintigraphy, and other imaging techniques

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First published online November 15, 2010, 10.2967/jnumed.110.076232

The Journal of Nuclear Medicine Vol. 51 No. 12 1937-1949

Imaging of Inflammation by PET, Conventional Scintigraphy, and Other

Imaging Techniques

Gotthardt1,2, Chantal P. Bleeker-Rovers2,3, Otto C. Boerman1,2

and Wim J.G. Oyen1,2

1 Department of Nuclear Medicine, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical

Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; 2 Nijmegen Institute for Infection,

Inflammation and Immunity, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre,

Nijmegen, The Netherlands; and; 3 Department of Internal Medicine,

Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Abstract

Nuclear medicine imaging procedures play an important role in the

assessment of inflammatory diseases. With the advent of 3-dimensional

anatomic imaging, there has been a tendency to replace traditional

planar scintigraphy by CT or MRI. Furthermore, scintigraphic

techniques may have to be combined with other imaging modalities to

achieve high sensitivity and specificity, and some may require

time-consuming labeling procedures. On the other hand, new

developments such as combined SPECT/CT increase the diagnostic power

of scintigraphy. Also, the advent of PET had a considerable impact on

the use of nuclear medicine imaging techniques. In this review, we aim

to provide nuclear medicine specialists and clinicians with the

relevant information on rational and efficient use of nuclear medicine

imaging techniques in the assessment of patients with osteomyelitis,

infected vascular prostheses, metastatic infectious disease,

rheumatoid arthritis, vasculitis, inflammatory bowel disease,

sarcoidosis, and fever of unknown origin.

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Read the full article here:

http://jnm.snmjournals.org/cgi/content/full/51/12/1937

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