“The SPECT-CT is one of the pillars of nuclear medicine. It is an integrated device that provides complete functional and anatomical information on the state of the disease, since it is a hybrid equipment made up of a CT scanner and a SPECT gamma camera, making it an indispensable tool for the study of an increasing number of pathologies,” says Dr. Shirley Alarcón, head of the Nuclear Medicine Service of our institution.

What is Nuclear Medicine?

It is a diagnostic and therapeutic medical specialty that studies the functionality of tissues and organs and is complementary to other radiological methods. Cardiology, oncology, endocrinology, nephrology, gastroenterology, and pediatrics are some of the specialties that most demand nuclear medicine studies.

What is a SPECT-CT?

It is a new imaging technology that provides optimal image quality of single photon emission tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT). This hybrid imaging technique allows the direct fusion of morphological information and functional information of the tissues or organs to be studied.

What are the advantages of the SPECT-CT study and in which fields is it used?

This combined technique has been shown to improve the sensitivity and specificity of conventional scintigraphic studies while shortening acquisition times, reducing radiation doses, and providing images that facilitate better analysis.

The main SPECT-CT studies offered by our Nuclear Medicine Service are:

• Whole body bone SPECT/CT. For the study of malignant and/or benign skeletal pathology.
• Three-phase bone SPECT/CT. For the study of inflammatory bone pathology.
• Parathyroid SPECT/CT. To rule out parathyroid adenomas
• SPECT/CT with somatostatin analogs (octreotide). For the study of neuroendocrine tumors
• SPECT/CT with ciprofloxacin. For skeletal infectious pathology
• Pulmonary perfusion ventilation SPECT (V/Q). To rule out thromboembolism pulmonary and other pulmonary pathologies
• Myocardial perfusion SPECT/CT. For the study of cardiac ischemia
• I131 SPECT/CT radioactive iodine scans. In malignant thyroid pathology
• Sentinel node SPECT/CT. In cases of breast cancer, melanoma, and other neoplasms.
• SPECT/CT of cerebral perfusion and cisternography. For the study of neurodegenerative, psychiatric, and cerebrospinal fluid disorders, respectively.
• Hepato-splenic SPECT/CT. In the characterization of hemangioma and accessory spleen

Dr. Shirley Alarcón
Head of the Nuclear Medicine Service at Clínica Ricardo Palma