Orazio Schillaci – författare

For the first time, in this atlas nuclear physicians and radiologists cover the entire hybrid nuclear medicine (PET/CT, SPECT/CT and PET/MRI), based on their own case studies.

The structure in three volumes represents an user friendly guide for interpreting PET and SPECT in relation to co-registered CT and/or MRI.

Three companion volumes with a practical structure in two-page unit offer to the reader a navigational tool, based on anatomical districts, with labeled and explained low-dose multiplanar CT or MRI views merged with PET fusion imaging on the right hand and contrast enhanced CT or MRI on the other side. This new format enables rapid identification of hybrid nuclear medicine findings which are now routine at leading medical centers.

Volume 1 is focused on brain and neck PET imaging, with emphasis on PET/MRI; Volume 2 concerns thorax, abdomen and pelvis, with particular attention on lung and liver segmental anatomy and evaluation of peritoneum. Special chapters on heart, lymph nodes and musculoskeletal system, are collected in the Volume 3.

Each chapter begins with three-dimensional CT and/or MRI views of the evaluated anatomical region, bringing forward sectional tables.

Clinical cases, tricks and pitfalls linked to several PET or SPECT radiopharmaceuticals help to introduce the reader to peculiar molecular pathways and to improve confidence in cross-sectional imaging, that is vital for the accurate diagnosis and treatment of diseases.

Atlas of Hybrid Imaging of the Thorax, Abdomen and Pelvis, Volume Two: Sectional Anatomy for PET/CT, PET/MRI and SPECT/CT provides a guide for interpreting PET and SPECT in relation to co-registered CT and/or MRI. In this atlas, exclusively dedicated to thorax, abdomen and pelvis, nuclear physicians and radiologists cover hybrid nuclear medicine based on their own case studies. The practical structure in two-page unit offers readers a navigational tool based on anatomical districts, with labeled and explained low-dose multiplanar CT or MRI views merged with PET fusion imaging on one side and enhanced CT or MRI on the other.

This new format enables the rapid identification of hybrid nuclear medicine findings which are now routine at leading medical centers. Each chapter begins with three-dimensional CT and/or MRI views of the evaluated anatomical region, bringing forward sectional tables. Clinical cases, tricks and pitfalls linked to several PET or SPECT radiopharmaceuticals help introduce the reader to peculiar molecular pathways and improve confidence in cross-sectional imaging that is vital for accurate diagnosis and treatments.

Atlas of Hybrid Imaging of the Heart, Lymph Nodes and Musculoskeletal System, Volume Three: Sectional Anatomy for PET/CT, PET/MRI and SPECT/CT provides a guide for interpreting PET and SPECT in relation to co-registered CT and/or MRI. In this atlas, exclusively dedicated to heart, lymph nodes and musculoskeletal system, nuclear physicians and radiologists cover hybrid nuclear medicine based on their own case studies. The practical structure in two-page unit offers readers a navigational tool based on anatomical districts, with labeled and explained low-dose multiplanar CT or MRI views merged with PET fusion imaging on one side and enhanced CT or MRI on the other.

This new format enables the rapid identification of hybrid nuclear medicine findings which are now routine at leading medical centers. Each chapter begins with three-dimensional CT and/or MRI views of the evaluated anatomical region, bringing forward sectional tables. Clinical cases, tricks and pitfalls linked to several PET or SPECT radiopharmaceuticals help introduce the reader to peculiar molecular pathways and improve confidence in cross-sectional imaging that is vital for accurate diagnosis and treatments.

The book reflects the rapid development of several PET tracers over the last decade, as a result of which the “traditional” PET/CT with 18F-FDG, the “cornerstone” of PET imaging, is now only one of several available options, which use different tracers for different diseases. For the same reason, PET imaging is no longer limited to the field of oncology.

In the editors’ experience, students in medicine and residents in nuclear medicine and radiology have limited access to scientific papers concerning novel PET tracers. Moreover, these papers generally focus on a single PET radiopharmaceutical. With approx. 20 radiopharmaceuticals explained in detail and a wealth of images and clinical cases, the book represents a versatile, comprehensive and practice-oriented guide to PET imaging, pursuing a unique andnovel approach to the clinical role of PET tracers.

The book’s didactic nature also makes it an invaluable tool for residents in nuclear medicine and radiology, as well as for radiographers and clinicians in radiotherapy, oncology, hematology, cardiology and neurology.

Performing any diagnostic test in medicine is always a matter of trying to get the condition of the patient diagnosed properly with the least effort, exposure, discomfort and at the same time with the lowest possible error probability.

Pre-test probability is helpful but often imprecise, effectively overestimating the patient''s risk profile. In a broader prevention objective, the phases of a disease, its onset, progression, and complications must be taken into account. The negative predictive value, which is so important, has in turn its main limitation in identifying the healthy patient, that is, the one who does not belong to any cluster of patients in which we would act in terms of prevention.

 In coronary syndromes, the goal is instead to evaluate coronary heart disease, from mild to more extensive and significant forms. For this purpose, it is necessary to use parameters that investigate different and complementary aspects: stenosis, ischemia, the morphology ofthe atherosclerotic plaque, metabolic processes, in particular vitality and apoptosis, the presence of inflammatory processes.

The possibility, already present thanks to Hybrid Imaging, of ''joining’ exams that study different aspects, will allow the patient to be increasingly characterized not only from a diagnostic point of view but also from a prognostic and personalized therapeutic choice.

The book is a practical and concise guide to PET tracers actually useful for PET/CT and PET/MR imaging.

Gaining knowledge on radiopharmaceuticals is often difficult, since their features can be only found in single original journal articles.This book aims to present to the reader, in one single place, clinical features, indications and future trends for PET imaging with a large amount of tracers. While 18F-FDG  still remains the miliar stone across PET tracer, new emerging fields of application of PET imaging are consolidated by using disease specific tracers in specific clinical settings.

Each chapter is focused on a single tracer or on a group of similar tracers. The basis and structure of the chapters is the same throughout the book: essential information on synthesis and in vivo distribution of a tracer, clinical cases, eloquently showing clinical indications and usefulness, future trends, scientific literature.

Featuring over 30 radiopharmaceuticals and 240 clinical cases, the 3rd edition has been enriched with additional chapters on the clinical indications and/or common pitfalls for 18F-fluciclovine PET/CT in prostate cancer imaging and for 18F-MISO in PET tumor hypoxia imaging, as well as applications and future directions for 18F-FES and other PET radiopharmaceuticals.

All other chapters of the previous edition have been revised and updated, in particular those chapters covering 18F-DOPA, radiolabeled choline, and 18F-NAF, due to emerging clinical applications for these tracers, 18F-choline for imaging of parathyroid adenoma and 18F-DOPA for restaging of medullary thyroid cancer.

The book will be an invaluable guide for professionals and residents in nuclear medicine, radiology, oncology.