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

• Published in: Journal of Nuclear Medicine Vol. 51; no. 12; pp. 1937 - 1949
• Main Authors: Gotthardt, Martin, Bleeker-Rovers, Chantal P, Boerman, Otto C, Oyen, Wim J G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Society of Nuclear Medicine 01.12.2010
• Subjects: Arthritis, Rheumatoid - diagnostic imaging; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - pathology; Blood products; Diagnostic Imaging - methods; Disadvantages; Fever of Unknown Origin - diagnostic imaging; Fever of Unknown Origin - pathology; Humans; Infection - diagnostic imaging; Infection - pathology; Inflammation - diagnostic imaging; Inflammation - pathology; Inflammatory bowel disease; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases - diagnostic imaging; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases - pathology; Medicine; Permeability; Positron-Emission Tomography - methods; Radionuclide Imaging - methods; Radiopharmaceuticals; Rheumatoid arthritis; Sarcoidosis; Vasculitis - diagnostic imaging; Vasculitis - pathology
• ISSN: 0161-5505; 1535-5667; 2159-662X; 1535-5675
• DOI: 10.2967/jnumed.110.076232

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.