Your doctor may use a variety of diagnostic tools to help discover the full extent of your medical condition. A positron emission tomography (PET) scan is often recommended by your doctors when they suspect that you may have a condition that is still in its early stages and cannot be detected by other diagnostic equipment.
Why Would a Doctor Recommend a PET Scan?
If your doctor would like to examine the blood flow in your body, oxygen intake, or your general metabolism, the doctor may order a PET scan. These scans can get a good look at your cellular problems and provide insight on potential diseases before they reach late and untreatable stages.
Cardiac PET Scan
A cardiac PET scan may be ordered by your doctor to examine the blood flow around your heart. One of the first signs of heart conditions is a decreased blood flow, thanks to unhealthy tissue or blood clots. Using a cardiac PET scan can detect different levels of tissue function that indicate heart disease.
Cancer and PET Scans
Due to a higher metabolic rate, cancer cells appear on PET scans as bright spots. As a diagnostic tool, a PET is able to detect new reoccurring cancer and track the effectiveness of cancer treatments.
Brain Problems and PET Scans
PET scans are used by doctors to look for active glucose in the brain. This illustrates to doctors what part of the brain is still using glucose. This information can help doctors diagnose depression, head trauma, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease.
Contact Cardiac Imaging, Inc. today if your doctor has recommended a PET scan.
