One Scan Reveals Hidden Trouble? The Power of FDG PET CT Scans
Positron emission tomography, also known as PET imaging or PET scan, is a form of nuclear medicine imaging where radioactive material or radiotracers are used in small quantities to diagnose, evaluate, and treat various diseases. F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) is one of the most common radiotracer molecules that has several similarities to glucose. Cancer cells tend to have higher metabolic activity along with higher glucose absorption rates. An FDG PET CT scan can detect these high absorption rates, indicating the presence of a possible disorder that is not otherwise visible on any other imaging test.
Why are FDG PET Scans Performed
Your doctor may ask you to undergo an FDG PET scan for the following purposes:
- Detect cancer or diagnose some other health condition.
- Determine the extent of the spread of cancer to other body parts.
- Assess if an ongoing treatment is producing the desired results.
- Detect if there has been a relapse in cancer after a previous treatment.
- Assess tissue metabolism and viability.
- Map normal heart and brain functions.
- Determine the extent of any brain abnormality, such as seizures, tumours, memory disorders, or their impact on the central nervous system.
How is an FDG PET CT Conducted
In order to conduct an FDG PET CT, the doctor will ask you to lie down on the exam table, and an intravenous catheter may be inserted into your arm. You will be administered a radiotracer injection, which will take around 30-60 minutes to travel through the body and be absorbed in the area under examination. No movement or talking will be allowed during this period.
After this, you will be taken to the PET CT scanner machine for the imaging to begin. The overall procedure won’t take more than 30 minutes. Additional tests are often required depending on which area of the body is being scanned. Sometimes, multiple images are taken for better visualization of the organ or body structure under examination.
What are the Benefits Seen with An FDG PET CT Scan
When you get an accurate PET FDG done at a reputed diagnostic centre, you get to enjoy several benefits:
- It provides you unique information that may be hard to identify with other imaging procedures. The information could cover details such as anatomy and functions of the different body structures.
- Gives you useful diagnostic or treatment information on various diseases.
- An FDG PET scan cost is cheaper and more likely to yield precise, useful information compared to an outright exploratory surgery.
- By assessing physical changes at the cellular level, a PET imaging procedure can detect early onset of diseases before they can be identified by other imaging procedures such as an MRI or CT scan.
- When a PET CT scan is done together, you get more detailed and highly accurate outcomes as the patient can be kept still and in the same position when performing the scans, reducing room for errors.
- It makes it more convenient for the patients to undergo both a CT and PET simultaneously rather than on two different instances.
Why Choose Quadra for Your FDG PET CT Needs
Quadra Diagnostics is one of Kolkata’s leading diagnostic service providers, where you can get an accurate and affordable FDG PET CT scan. We have the latest equipment and experienced staff to help provide a comfortable experience every time. Get in touch with us today to book an appointment or know more about our services.