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Referring Patients
Important Information to Know When Referring a Patient
- The Radiologist should have all information about the patient's diseases, infections or surgeries that can affect the use of glucose metabolism. For example, inflammation can cause artifacts in PET/CT studies that could cause confusion.
- General notes on recent Patient history.
- General notes on recent Patient physical condition.
- If the patient is a diabetic it is important that the scheduling center know for optimal scheduling and patient preparation.
- Recent CT’s or MRI’s should be made available for comparison during and for the interpretation of the PET/CT Scan.
- Is the patient claustrophobic? While the bore of a PET/CT machine is similar to a CT, some patients have difficulty with the procedure. With proper notification the technologist can minimize the impact of claustrophobia.
- Are there special instructions I should give my patients?
Yes, you should tell your patients the following:
- The scan time varies according to the problem but will be 15 to 60 minutes. The total time at the facility will be about 2 to 2 1/2 hours because there is about an hour wait between the administration of the radiopharmaceutical and the beginning of scanning.
- The procedure begins with the intravenous administration of FDG, a sugar (deoxyglucose) labeled with Fluorine-18, a radioactive isotope.
- There are no known reactions or side effects to FDG.
- The radiation dose is very small and equivalent to a series of spine X-Ray studies.
- The patient should continue to take their usual medications, if any.
In addition you will have to provide special instructions for particular exams as detailed in the physician instruction sheet provided to all neo•pet clients. Some exams require prescriptions for medication for patient preparation and others for administration some procedures during the PET/CT study.
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