PET Diagnostics Department

Head
dr Andrea d’Amico, PhD, MD
 
 

 
Secretariat:
telephone: +48 32 278 86-33
e-mail infopet@io.gliwice.pl

Patients are referred to the PET Diagnostics Department by qualified physicians.  The PET test order along with relevant medical documentation (analytical test results, hospital discharge cards, etc.) should be delivered to the department in person, by mail or fax.  Submitting the order to the department does not guarantee qualification for the examination.  All prescriptions / orders must be approved by the Qualification Committee, based on the enclosed medical documentation. Every patient will be informed about the qualification result by phone and in the case of successful qualification, also about the day and time of the scheduled examination.
 

Please have the referral / order typed on a computer.  Handwritten forms are often hard to read, which further delays the qualification process.

What is a PET-CT examination?
 
Positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine test.  It consists in intravenous administration of a minimum amount of physiological molecules (glucose, amino-acids, etc.) bonded to radioactive atoms with a short decay time.  Using a detector, it is possible to determine the exact radioactivity distribution and to evaluate body functions (glucose metabolism is related to the presence of malignant tumors).  In the case of a PET-CT study, the patient also undergoes a computer tomography (CT) examination, i.e. a radiological study making it possible to see the patient’s anatomy and locate the physiological findings obtained in the PET test.

What does a PET-CT examination look like?

The PET-CT study is safe and painless.  Before the examination, the patient receives an intravenous injection of a selected radioactive tracer.  Then, for approximately 60 - 75 minutes, the patient must remain calm, lying on a bed in a dark room.  We recommend the patient stays immobile and does not move for the first quarter of an hour after the injection; later, the patient should drink 0.5l of pure water (without any added flavors or CO2).  Later on, the patient can use the toilet freely.  Just before the examination starts, the MTA asks the patient to void and remove any metal objects.  The test is usually performed with the patient lying on the scanner bed with hands over his head.  It takes between 15 to 40 minutes.  During the scan, the patient must not move but can breath and swallow freely.
 

The picture on the left showi3s a PET-CT test result of a patient who was under stress and lightly dressed (he was cold).  Black spots on the image were caused by his being cold and stressed.  After one week, the study was repeated with the patient dressed warmer and given some pills to relax.  The result is shown on the right side:  it is now clearly negative, no pathological findings. 
 

How to prepare for a PET-CT examination

• Do not eat at least four hours before the examination.  You can only drink pure water or tea with no sugar or milk added.  Do not eat any sweets or chewing-gum.
• You may take all the medications you usually take.
• Bring 1 liter of pure water (without any flavors or sugar added).
• Patients must not be accompanied by children or pregnant women.
• Plan 3 to 5 hours for the entire procedure.
• Avoid any hard physical work for 24 hours prior to the examination.
• Diabetic patients should inform the staff about their condition to receive additional information about how to prepare for the examination.

What to do after a PET-CT test?

• After the examination you may eat or drink normally,
• We recommend you drink a lot of water to remove the radioisotope from your body faster,
• Keep your contact with pregnant women or children to a minimum or stop any contacts at all throughout the entire day.

PET-CT examination with claustrophobic patients
Up to now, we have never encountered any problems related to claustrophobia.  Our equipment features wide bores of at least 75 cm.  The Philips scanner consists of two separate parts (see picture) and the Siemens scanner has an even wider bore.