Imaging local brain function with emission computed tomography
Positron emission tomography (PET) using /sup 18/F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) was used to map local cerebral glucose utilization in the study of local cerebral function. This information differs fundamentally from structural assessment by means of computed tomography (CT). In normal human volunteers, the FDG scan was used to determine the cerebral metabolic response to conrolled sensory stimulation and the effects of aging. Cerebral metabolic patterns are distinctive among depressed and demented elderly patients. The FDG scan appears normal in the depressed patient, studded with multiple metabolic defects in patients with multiple infarct dementia, and in the patients with Alzheimer disease, metabolism is particularly reduced in the parietal cortex, but only slightly reduced in the caudate and thalamus. The interictal FDG scan effectively detects hypometabolic brain zones that are sites of onset for seizures in patients with partial epilepsy, even though these zones usually appear normal on CT scans. The future prospects of PET are discussed.
- Research Organization:
- UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC03-76SF00012
- OSTI ID:
- 7134649
- Journal Information:
- Radiology; (United States), Journal Name: Radiology; (United States) Vol. 150:3; ISSN RADLA
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
550601* -- Medicine-- Unsealed Radionuclides in Diagnostics
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
ALDEHYDES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-PLUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BODY
BRAIN
CARBOHYDRATES
CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
COMPUTERIZED TOMOGRAPHY
DIAGNOSIS
DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES
EMISSION COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY
FLUORINE 18
FLUORINE ISOTOPES
GLUCOSE
HEXOSES
HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MENTAL DISORDERS
METABOLISM
MONOSACCHARIDES
NERVOUS SYSTEM
NUCLEI
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANS
POSITRON COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY
RADIOISOTOPES
SACCHARIDES
TOMOGRAPHY