Prevalence, challenges, and solutions for (18)F-FDG PET studies of obese patients: a technologist's perspective.

Unlabelled: Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States; hence, it is frequently encountered in patients undergoing (18)F-FDG PET studies. The purpose of the current study was to present a technologist's perspective on the prevalence of obesity and the challenges and solutions in imaging obese patients in our PET facility.

Methods: From October 2002 to October 2003, whole-body (18)F-FDG PET was performed on 1,164 patients with a known or suspected malignancy.