New concepts in infection/inflammation imaging
Rennen, H.J.; Corstens, F.H.; Oyen, W.J.; Boerman, O.C.
Quarterly Journal of Nuclear Medicine Official Publication of the Italian Association of Nuclear Medicine and the International Association of Radiopharmacology 45(2): 167-173
2001
ISSN/ISBN: 1125-0135 PMID: 11476166 Document Number: 536022
Although autologous leukocytes, labelled with 111In or 99mTc, is still considered the "gold standard" nuclear medicine technique to image infection and inflammation, there is a great need for a less cumbersome and less hazardous approach. Over the last few decades the range of radiopharmaceuticals to investigate infectious and non-microbial inflammatory disorders is vastly expanding. Radiolabelled monoclonal antibodies and antibody-fragments, radiolabelled chemotactic peptides and cytokines, and radiolabelled antibiotics are promising new approaches in the field of nuclear medicine. Recently, positron emission tomography (PET) with 18FJDG has been introduced and has been shown to delineate infectious and inflammatory foci with high sensitivity. Here, a survey is presented of the different approaches in use or under investigation.