Multicenter validation of a shortened gastric-emptying protocol.

Unlabelled: Gastric emptying scintigraphy is considered to be the gold standard for detection of gastroparesis and other disorders of gastric motility; Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging guidelines are predicated on imaging over a period of 4 h, which is inconvenient for patients. Bonta et al. introduced 2-h criteria, which served to shorten the protocol in most patients, with negligible loss of accuracy.

Planar scintigraphic imaging of the gastrointestinal tract in clinical practice.

In the last 30 years, nuclear medicine has paralleled other imaging fields with the development of 3-dimensional techniques, including single-photon emission computed tomography and positron emission tomography. However, conventional nuclear medicine planar scintigraphy remains a common procedure at most imaging centers. Gastrointestinal studies constitute a significant portion of these planar procedures.

Nuclear medicine applications in the clinical setting. Imaging studies aid disease staging and management.

Over the last decade, advances in instrumentation have improved the accuracy and quality of conventional nuclear medicine studies. In addition, the approval of many new radiopharmaceuticals has helped integrate cutting-edge imaging techniques into the clinical setting. In this article, Drs Middleton and Shell discuss the latest applications of positron emission tomography (PET), radiolabeled antibody imaging, radioisotope lymphatic mapping, and radiolabeled receptor imaging.