DIAGNOSTIC
RADIOPHARMACEUTICAL AGENTS
Selcan TÜRKER*, A. Yekta ÖZER*o
*Hacettepe University, Faculty of Medicine,
Department of Radiopharmaceutics, 06100 Sýhhiye, Ankara,
TURKEY.
oCorresponding Author
Summary
Diagnostic medical imaging is a fundamental part of the
practice of modern medicine. Today's clinical practice of
nuclear medicine revolves primarily around the use of systemically
administered gamma - or positron-emitting radiopharmaceuticals
as diagnostic tools for imaging the human body. Radiopharmaceuticals
consist of either a gamma- or a positron-emitting radionuclide
bound to ligands, which cause selective accumulation in
cancerous or diseased tissue. Using cameras designed to
detect gamma photons le-aving the patient's body, the nuclear
medicine physician directly observes regional radiotracer
distribution and kinetics. This allows the clinician to
evaluate those aspects of tissue function involved in the
body's handling of the administered agent. Nuclear medicine
imaging is considerably more sensitive than most other imaging
modalities (X-ray, CT, MRI) for identifying the presence
and extent
of malignancy, since biochemical changes monitored by positron
emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission computed
tomography (SPECT) generally precede anatomical changes.
This article surveys the growing literature on diagnostic
radionuclide imaging with radionuclide agents.
Key Words :
Radiopharmaceutical agents, diagnostic medical
imaging, nuclear medicine, gamma-emitting radi-onuclides,
positron-emitting radionuclides
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