Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

Guide

What Affects the Test

Reasons you may not be able to have the test or why the results may not be helpful include:

• Being pregnant. A PET scan is not usually done during pregnancy because the radiation could harm the unborn baby (fetus).
• Using caffeine, tobacco, or alcohol in the past 24 hours.
• Not being able to lie still for the test.
• Using sedatives.
• Taking medicines, such as insulin, that change your metabolism.
• Having recently had surgery, a biopsy, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy.

What To Think About

• A CT scan and PET scan may be done at the same time.
• Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging is a method that may be used to diagnose a person with symptoms of heart disease. SPECT imaging also may be done to see if a person with coronary artery disease (CAD) is likely to have a heart attack or other serious problem.²

Citations

1. 
   Johnson KA, et al. (2013). Appropriate use criteria for amyloid PET: A report of the Amyloid Imaging Task Force, the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, and the Alzheimer's Association. Alzheimer's and Dementia, 9(1): e1-e16.
   
2. 
   Hendel RC, et al. (2009). ACCF/ASNC/ACR/AHA/ASE/SCCT/SCMR/SNM 2009 appropriate use criteria for cardiac radionuclide imaging. Circulation, 119(22): e561-e587.
   

Other Works Consulted

• 
  Fischbach FT, Dunning MB III, eds. (2009). Manual of Laboratory and Diagnostic Tests, 8th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
  
• 
  Pagana KD, Pagana TJ (2010). Mosby’s Manual of Diagnostic and Laboratory Tests, 4th ed. St. Louis: Mosby.
  

ByHealthwise Staff
Primary Medical ReviewerAdam Husney, MD - Family Medicine
Specialist Medical ReviewerHoward Schaff, MD - Diagnostic Radiology