Chapter 28. New Directions in Positron Emission Tomography-Part II

Joanna S. Fowler, Alfred P. Wolf, Nora D. Volkow

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Abstract

This chapter describes the positron emission tomography (PET) method and its recent use in studies of the brain, metabolism, heart disease, and tumors. It also covers PET studies with therapeutic drugs and substances of abuse, and the rapidly emerging use of PET in clinical diagnosis. PET is a unique tracer method that can be used to measure the spatial and temporal concentration of radioactivity in a volume element of tissue in a living system. PET can be extremely valuable in the quantitative determination of the biodistribution of drugs in human and their short term pharmacokinetics in any body tissue. No other technology is capable of answering these questions as quickly, as safely, and as precisely as PET. It has been most widely applied to the study of CNS drugs. Other applications with diagnostic potential are emerging. With PET, it is possible to directly correlate the cognitive function, metabolism, and structural integrity in the brain. In Alzheimer's disease, PET has been used to identify the characteristic deficits in brain metabolism that, in certain cases, have been shown to precede clinical presentation. PET has also been used to study the psychiatric diseases, such as schizophrenia, affective disorders, obsessive compulsive disorders, anxiety disorders, violence, and substance abuse.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)261-269
Number of pages9
JournalAnnual Reports in Medicinal Chemistry
Volume25
Issue numberC
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 1990
Externally publishedYes

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