Are there any risks involved with PET scans?
• Because PET allows study of body function, it can help physicians detect alterations in biochemical processes that suggest disease before changes in anatomy are apparent with other imaging tests, such as CT or MRI. • Because the radioactivity is very short-lived, your radiation exposure is low. The substance amount is so small that it does not affect the normal processes of the body. • The radioactive substance may expose radiation to the fetus in patients who are pregnant or the infants of women who are breast-feeding. The risk to the fetus or infant should be considered in relation to the potential information gain from the result of the PET examination. If you are pregnant, you should inform the PET imaging staff before the examination is performed.
