Dear Molecular Imaging Insider,
This issue of the Insider offers the first exclusive look at a new quantitative approach for using PET scans to predict whether people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) will progress to dementia within three years.
Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles developed a Dementia Prognosis Index based on PET scan data to predict with more certainty which MCI patients might later develop Alzheimer's. Read more about the findings by clicking here.
FDG-PET also recently showed its prowess with merkel cell carcinoma. Australian researchers found that FDG-PET scans changed the management plan for more than one-third of patients and altered the disease stage in approximately one in five cases. Subsequently, overall survival for merkel cell carcinoma patients was 60% after three years and 51% after five years.
Another noteworthy study showed that simultaneous PET/MRI performed better than PET and MRI alone for the detection of FDG-avid pulmonary nodules and lesions at least 0.5 cm in size. However, PET/MRI was less proficient for lesions that were smaller and not FDG-avid, according to the researchers from NYU Langone Medical Center.
Meanwhile, PET scans using the pharmacological stress agent regadenoson with rubidium-82 (Rb-82) for myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) have high sensitivity and diagnostic accuracy for detecting obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD), according to researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital. Regadenoson Rb-82 PET MPI achieved sensitivity of 92% for the detection of obstructive CAD and maintained high diagnostic sensitivity regardless of a patient's age, gender, or body mass index.
There is also optimistic news for SPECT and PET vendors. A market research report from Bio-Tech Systems predicts that sales of SPECT and PET radiopharmaceuticals and scanners in the U.S. could reach $6.39 billion by 2021. The report cites a number of new products, and states that the potential of novel imaging agents currently in the pipeline will propel domestic growth.
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