This article was written to give health-care providers working in the field of nuclear medicine some background information on pediatric PET/CT. Specifically, it provides information regarding patient preparation and acquisition techniques necessary to obtain high-quality pediatric PET/CT images. It is targeted primarily at nuclear medicine technologists and CT technologists but may be beneficial to physicians performing PET/CT scans as well. The learning objectives for this article are to help the reader understand the practical aspects involved in pediatric PET/CT, to provide helpful tips and techniques that can be applied to pediatric nuclear medicine, and to help the reader understand and explore the various studies being done with 18 F-FDG in children.

These data show that dual-time-point FDG PET/CT is useful in distinguishing malignant from benign processes in pediatric patients.

Repeat Meckel scans in patients with equivocal findings on the first study or a negative result with a high clinical suspicion for a Meckel diverticulum are useful especially in cases in which the first study had been done without appropriate preparation.

We performed an observational pilot study of 18F-FLT PET/CT in pediatric lymphoma. Eight patients with equivocal 18F-FDG PET/CT underwent imaging with 18F-FLT PET/CT. No immediate adverse reactions to 18F-FLT were observed. Compared to 18F-FDG, 18F-FLT uptake was significantly higher in bone marrow and liver (18F-FLT SUV 8.6 ± 0.6 and 5.0 ± 0.3, versus 18F-FDG SUV 1.9 ± 0.1 and 3.4 ± 0.7, resp., p < 0.05). In total, 15 lesions were evaluated with average 18F-FDG and 18F-FLT SUVs of 2.6 ± 0.1 and 2.0 ± 0.4, respectively. Nonspecific uptake in reactive lymph nodes and thymus was observed. Future studies to assess the clinical utility of 18F-FLT PET/CT in pediatric lymphoma are planned.

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