PET-CT with 18F-FDG

The examination is used to evaluate the signs of a suspected neurodegenerative disease or early dementia, in the differential diagnosis of dementias and their phenotypic variants, in the differential diagnosis of parkinsonism, in the differential diagnosis of primary depression, psychotic disorders and neurodegenerative diseases, in epilepsy, for the localization of the epileptogenic focus in the forms resistant to anti-mycotic therapy in anticipation of possible neurosurgical treatment and finally in encephalitis to support the diagnostic suspicion. A morphological analysis must be carried out along with this procedure.

• Alzheimer's disease, prodromal and clinical phase
• Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB)
• Fronto-temporal behavioral dementia (bvFTD)
• Parkinsonism (corticobasal degeneration, progressive supranuclear palsy)
• Mild Cognitive Impairment
• Multisystem atrophy (MSA)

The preparation for the examination requires fasting for at least 6 hours, the suspension of benzodiazepines, barbiturates, neuroleptics that may affect the metabolic activity of the brain and thus affect the result of the examination. A CT or MRI morphological study and the result of neuropsychological tests are required.  The duration of the examination is about 60 minutes; during the first 45 minutes after the intravenous administration of the radiopharmaceutical the patient remains silent, lying down with eyes closed. This is followed by 15 minutes of image acquisition by means of a PET tomograph that provides restraint mechanisms which are not constrictive but make the patient's position comfortable. Immobility of the head is required, therefore collaborative capacity.