Abstract
Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (F-18 FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) brain imaging is commonly used in the early detection and differential diagnosis of various subtypes of dementias. F-18 FDG PET images are mainly evaluated visually and semi-quantitative (SQ) analysis programs are also commonly used in many centers. However, visual and SQ analysis carry certain limitations. Visual assessment is subjective and dependent on expertise. Commercially available SQ analysis programs have certain limitations such as suboptimal selection of brain areas or erroneous uptake normalization procedure which may provide inaccurate results and physicians reporting SQ results should be aware of these. In this pictorial review article, we will discuss the current status of F-18 FDG PET brain imaging in patients with dementia and present figures and SQ analysis results of various subtypes of dementias as well as certain artifacts seen on F-18 FDG PET brain imaging studies.