SPECT Imaging of the Brain

by R. Duncan (Editor)

Overview

In the developed world, images of brain structure are available as an everyday diagnostic aid, and the characteristic appearances of most pathological conditions can be looked up in a textbook. Functional brain imaging is to this day less widely used, partly because most pressing diagnostic questions can be answered by refer­ ence to the patient's cerebral anatomy, partly for reasons of technical limitations of functional techniques. PET as a technique is sufficiently resource-demanding and complex to inhibit its use as an everyday diagnostic technique. SPECT lacked suitable tracers for many years, and early systems had poor spatial resolution. However, rotating gamma camera technology has advanced to the point where images of the brain of reasonable quality can be obtained at most large hospitals, and practical tracers, particularly of regional cerebral blood flow, are easily avail­ able. As research advances, clinical applications are emerging. A recent report of the Therapeutics and Technology Assessment Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology! details a number of currently recognised clinical applications, some of which are dealt with in this book. Given this recognition, it is increasingly important that clinicians (particularly neuroclinicians, psychiatrists and specialists in cerebrovascular disease), nuclear medicine specialists and physicists acquire an idea of the major applications of the technique, and the research background on which these applications are based.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780792341864
Publisher:	Springer Netherlands
Publication date:	02/28/1997
Series:	Developments in Nuclear Medicine , #29
Edition description:	1997
Pages:	194
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.02(d)

Table of Contents

1. Basics of SPECT.- 2. SPECT imaging in focal epilepsy.- 3. SPECT in head injury.- 4. SPECT in cerebrovascular disorders.- 5. SPECT in dementia, schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders.- 6. The use of SPECT in the analysis of brain tumours.- Colour section.

Editorial Reviews

This short book covers research and clinical applications of brain SPECT (single-photon emission computed tomography) as it relates to the study of common neurological and psychiatric disease. The purpose is to provide the reader with current applications of brain SPECT imaging as it relates to common neurological and psychiatric disease. The book is one of a handful that address this topic. The audience is likely neurologists, psychiatrists, and neurosurgeons with a clinical interest in functional neuroimaging. The contributors are all from Scotland, mostly from one institution. They seem to be credible authorities. The book is slightly underillustrated, and some images are difficult to interpret because there are no scales provided. References are comprehensive up to and including 1994. The introductory chapter covering the basic science of SPECT is well done. This volume provides a useful compendium of initial studies using this technique in the clinical neurosciences. It makes frequent comparisons to positron emission tomography. Unfortunately, it is already somewhat outdated, and the clinical utility of SPECT is often nebulous. The book is directed to those practitioners with a keen interest in functional neuroimaging, not the general practitioner. Radiology housestaff and neuroimaging fellows will also find it useful.

Steven U. Brint

‘If a short introduction to the uses of SPECT of the brain is required, this amply fulfils the niche. I would recommend it as an ideal bench book for departmental libraries and as a personal purchase for those involved in requesting SPECT scans for their patients. It will help them to select referrals for SPECT more judiciously and to understand better the resulting reports.'
Clinical Oncology, 10:1 (1998)

From the Publisher