SPECT/CT using high-resolution CT detector technology has been found to increase the diagnostic capabilities of SPECT when used to detect diseased bone, including osteomyelitis and other peripheral skeletal disease, and at a lower cost than high-resolution multi-detector CT, according to a study published May 23 in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

There are several advantages to PET/CT for myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) including upgrades in quantitative analysis and biomarker technology that could provide a more complete evaluation of cardiovascular disease, according to a review published in the Journal of Nuclear Cardiology.

In a companion piece that counters an opinion that SPECT is the best modality for first-line detection of CAD, separate experts argued that CT finds sub-clinical atherosclerosis and important coronary anatomy, providing earlier diagnoses and the option to be more aggressive with treatment, according to a review published April 10 in the Journal of Nuclear Cardiology.

The article "Amyvid makers call for CMS coverage of amyloid imaging," has been revised.

Some clinicians maintain that cardiac-computed tomography angiography (CCTA) bests SPECT/CT for the detection of CAD, but two expert nuclear cardiologists suggest the opposite and presented data to demonstrate their case, in a study published April 10 in the Journal of Nuclear Cardiology.

The use of algorithms is changing the game for close-as-possible assessment of tumor volume and resolution recovery from PET cancer imaging, especially small objects affected by partial volume effects. Researchers conducting phantom studies have optimized quantitative tumor delineation of F-18 FDG PET imaging with two specialized algorithms that provide accurate partial volume correction for volumes as small as one-third of a milliliter, according to research published May 8 in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

I have been struggling recently with the notion that genomics is going to revolutionize our ability to diagnose and treat disease. Why? A basic tenet of information theory is simple: the more precisely you can measure something, the less information it contains.

Intraoperative lymphatic mapping provides surgeons, oncologists and referring physicians with vital information about potential malignancy in the lymphatic system, especially that of sentinel lymph nodes—usually the first check point for the diasporas of metastatic cancer cells that drain from primary tumors. Patients have a better chance of avoiding the increased morbidity associated with extensive nodal dissection by undergoing a biopsy of the sentinel lymph nodes most likely to contain metastatic disease.