Our results show major changes at the brain level,” Sirigu said. One electroencephalogram or EEG signal, “a brain rhythm previously shown to distinguish vegetative from minimally conscious state patients, significantly increased,” she wrote, particularly in areas important for “movement, body sensations and awareness.” A PET scan, a type of imaging test, showed increases in metabolic activity in the brain, as well. {read more here}

Scientists with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) have used PET/CT with the radiotracer 18F-DPA-714 to find and longitudinally track brain inflammation in mice infected with the Zika virus. {read more here}

Given its high sensitivity and negative predictive value, French researchers are promoting FDG-PET/CT for its ability to assess response to treatment and redirect therapy for patients with recurrent or progressive anal cancer, in a study published in the September issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. {read more here}

PET-CT with any of various radiotracers is better than conventional MRI at showing the boundaries and necrotic tissue of brain tumors and other gliomas. However, MRI is better than any flavor of PET-CT at showing the tumors’ basic anatomical structure, making the MR scans essential to initial pre-surgical planning. {read more here}