Abstract
18F-FDG PET imaging of tumors has pitfalls and pearls of wisdom that begin at the point of scheduling and continue through the patient interview, the resting phase, the scan itself, and the image review. Interviewing the patient at the time of scheduling, followed by placing a reminder phone call shortly before the appointment, can save a nuclear medicine department the financial loss of wasted doses and missed appointment slots in the schedule. The pitfalls and pearls of wisdom in tumor imaging are ever changing, and the technologist is in a constant state of inquiry about the patient’s disease process and ability to comply. Consideration of each item on the worksheets in this article affects every scan. On completing this article, the reader will be able to identify questions that should be asked in the scheduling and preinjection patient interviews, interpret the answers to those questions, determine how the images may be affected, and adapt the scan.
Footnotes
Published online Apr. 21, 2016.
CE credit: For CE credit, you can access the test for this article, as well as additional JNMT CE tests, online at https://www.snmmilearningcenter.org. Complete the test online no later than June 2019. Your online test will be scored immediately. You may make 3 attempts to pass the test and must answer 80% of the questions correctly to receive 1.0 CEH (Continuing Education Hour) credit. SNMMI members will have their CEH credit added to their VOICE transcript automatically; nonmembers will be able to print out a CE certificate upon successfully completing the test. The online test is free to SNMMI members; nonmembers must pay $15.00 by credit card when logging onto the website to take the test.