Neuroimaging clinics of North America
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Factors that place constraints on radio-chemists who are seeking to design and develop radiopharmaceuticals for PET imaging studies include the short half-lives of 11C and 18F, minimum radiochemical yield and specific activity requirements, and high radiation fields that are associated with multi-Curie quantities of PET radionuclides. Nevertheless, during the past 20 years, considerable progress has been made in the development and application of a variety of PET radiotracers for a range of imaging studies in human subjects. We have highlighted a few areas of radiochemistry that focused on PET radiotracers that are described in this issue. Although the number of PET radiotracers synthesized is in the hundreds [6], much work remains to develop specific and useful PET radiotracers for a host of new and exciting noninvasive imaging applications.
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Neuroimaging Clin. N. Am. · Nov 2003
ReviewImaging the pathology of Alzheimer's disease: amyloid-imaging with positron emission tomography.
The steep rise in the incidence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) has further added to the considerable public health burden caused by aging of the United States population. Among the most characteristic pathologic hallmarks of AD are neuritic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. The capability to use positron emission tomography and selective markers for amyloid protein deposition promises to substantially alter the way we diagnosis and manage patients who have AD.
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Neuroimaging Clin. N. Am. · Nov 2003
ReviewThe use of positron emission tomography in cerebrovascular disease.
Even with rapid development of other neuroimaging modalities such as MR imaging and CT, PET is the only technique that provides accurate, quantitative measurements of regional hemodynamics and metabolism in human subjects. Through the use of these combined measurements, we have greatly expanded our knowledge of the pathophysiology of cerebrovascular disease of different types. It has been possible to document the compensatory responses of the brain to reductions in perfusion pressure and to directly relate these responses to prognosis. ⋯ In the field of cerebrovascular disease, PET has served as a specialized research tool at a few centers to help elucidate the pathophysiology of stroke. Up until now, however, PET scans in individual patients have not been demonstrated to be necessary for making patient care decisions. Whether the role of PET expands to impact the management of individual patients will depend on the results of investigations like the Carotid Occlusion Surgery Study that directly assess the ability of PET to influence patient outcome.
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Neuroimaging Clin. N. Am. · Nov 2003
ReviewPositron emission tomography imaging in depression: a neural systems perspective.
PET measures of regional glucose metabolism, although chemically nonspecific, are sensitive indices of brain function in the untreated state and following disparate treatments. The continued development of imaging and multivariate statistical strategies is expected to provide an important perspective toward the full characterization of the depression phenotype at the neural systems level. An additional goal is the development of routine, brain-based clinical algorithms that optimize diagnosis and treatment of individual depressed patients.
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Neuroimaging Clin. N. Am. · Nov 2003
ReviewPositron emission tomography imaging of the aging brain.
PET imaging provides a vital means to study the human brain in vivo in aging and early disease states. PET studies using selective markers for brain metabolism and neurotransmitter function have uncovered a wealth of information on healthy and pathologic brain aging, and its relationship to behavior and mood states. Recognition of inherent potential confounds in the use of PET in aging studies is essential to the proper interpretation of these data.