Questions about types of scans.

[Bluebird11]

We've done 2 PET/CT scans this year. One in May and one in August. I'm trying to avoid another one. Can anyone say why a PET/CT is better than asking for a full body MRI. At this point we are trying to avoid any more radioactive tracer in his body. We will do it if needed.

We've had MRI's in the past. When needing spot radiation we had an MRI. Why would this not be appropriate to do a full body MRI? We wouldn't be using gadolinium either.

Early on in his diagnosis he was getting CT scans with the iodine tracer until it became to dangerous because of severe allergic reactions. I can't seem to remember, though I thought they were called CT scans then. What's the difference with the scans PET/CT that uses radioactive tracer and do they still use iodine for CT scans.

thanks very much..

I'm pretty much on overload at the moment and can use some information. I've always tried to research myself, though at this point, I thought some here may know..

[Hidden]

The health hazard from a PET/CT comes from two components:

That of the radiotracer and the CT irradiation.

How to minimize each of them:

1) Higher sensitivity scanners need lower quantities of radiotracer for the same imaging outcome.

2) PET/MRI machines are free from the second component.

3) "Continuous FlowMotion" PET/CT machines lessen the irradiation exposure of the patient in comparison to their "Stop and Go" counterparts. This is the second best choice after 2).

[Bluebird11 in reply to Hidden]

Now to ask his doc about these and whether they will agree. We actually don't cost the system much at all over this long period of time. So, I shall find out if Sutter or UCSF have these. thank you so much..

I'm open to any information people have which will bring a thread that I can follow.

bluebird11 of happiness and gratitude...

[Tall_Allen]

Here's an article that explains all that:

pcnrv.blogspot.com/2016/12/...

[Bluebird11 in reply to Tall_Allen]

I’ve first skimmed and see this is a wealth of understandable information for a patient I am sure I will ask further questions after reading thoroughly once I can articulate them.

A problem we may run into is cost. Since we are close to both Stanford and UCSF we are also fortunate. We had an experience in 2007 when first scans CT and bone showed extensive of mets to left hip, femur etc. Prior to diagnosis he needed hip replacement. We took on the challenge and opted for hip replacement a couple of years later. The hip surgeon took a biopsy since he didn’t see anything that looked suspicious except severe arthritis. The biopsy came back negative for mets. Apparently it was severe

osteoarthritis. Now 11 years later we are looking at the right hip with severe osteoarthritis, though also reporting mets.

This is why we need to be careful since we’ve experienced attribution a number of times that were not correct though were always remarked as suspicion of mets because of past history. We had that just this past August where the radiologist reading said fracture and hours later changed it.

This is one of my reasons for my initial question plus that he’s already had 2 PET/CT’s this year.

Budget could be a factor with doctors. I like to know going into an appt as much as I’m capable of understanding. We’ve noticed lately doctors relying more and more on the report and less on their own art of seeing as something a radiologist used to be more skilled at. With my last comment have you experienced this and from what I just spoke about have any thoughts. It may just be hard keeping up with new technology. We have a good team who listen to our concerns.

This is further discussion and decisions we will have to spend time on.

Thanks very much. I can’t say why my husband is still here though we have always tried to examine our issues as difficult as this is without training. We’ve weighed in pretty much from the beginning. This site has been an invaluable source for and from many. Thank you.

[Tall_Allen in reply to Bluebird11]

You should always only go by an experienced radiologist's report. These scans cannot be read by a layman.

[Bluebird11 in reply to Tall_Allen]

only experienced radiologists read our scans... they are from the best medical facilities .. since we live in a metropolitan area..

thanks