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Tamara L, Velez I et al. J Oral Maxillofac Surg 2006; 64: 1272–1277

In PET scanning, a radioactive substance is injected and travels to a target organ in the body, where positrons are emitted and produce gamma rays. Computed tomography (CT) with PET scanning can produce some images of higher diagnostic accuracy than other imaging methods, particularly for malignant tumours. For head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), PET scanning may be better than ordinary CT, MRI, ultrasonography and nuclear bone scan.

In this paper, 4 sets of images are compared to show how fused PET-CT images may provide information not available with other scans. The conditions shown are laryngeal SCC, metastatic parotid adenocarcinoma to cervical vertebra, Hodgkin's lymphoma, and multiple metastases. The authors note that PET disadvantages include false negatives from necrotic tumours, false positives with some inflammation, high cost and artefacts induced by metallic implants, but suggest that PET is outstanding if interpreted by an experienced nuclear medicine specialist.