PET-CT in brain disorders: The South African context

Alexander G G Doruyter; Jeannette Parkes; Jonathan Carr; James M Warwick

doi:10.4102/sajr.v25i1.2201

PET-CT in brain disorders: The South African context

SA J Radiol. 2021 Nov 10;25(1):2201. doi: 10.4102/sajr.v25i1.2201. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Alexander G G Doruyter^{1

2}, Jeannette Parkes³, Jonathan Carr⁴, James M Warwick²

Affiliations

¹ NuMeRI Node for Infection Imaging, Central Analytical Facilities, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
² Division of Nuclear Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
³ Division of Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
⁴ Division of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.

Abstract

Positron emission tomography combined with X-ray computed tomography (PET-CT) has an established role in the management of brain disorders, but may be underutilised in South Africa. Possible barriers to access include the limited number of PET-CT facilities and the lack of contemporary guidelines for the use of brain PET-CT in South Africa. The current review aims to highlight the evidence-based usage of brain Positron emission tomography (PET) in dementia, movement disorders, brain tumours, epilepsy, neuropsychiatric lupus, immune-mediated encephalitides, and brain infections. While being areas of research, there is currently no clinical role for the use of PET-CT in traumatic brain injury or in psychiatric or neurodevelopmental disorders. Strategies to expand the appropriate use of PET-CT in brain disorders are discussed in this article.

Keywords: F-18 fluoro-dihydroxyphenylalanine; F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose; Parkinson’s disease; brain; brain tumour; dementia; positron emission tomography.

Publication types

Review