Positron emission tomography imaging in the thorax.

Positron emission tomography imaging has proven valuable in the evaluation and management of thoracic abnormalities. It is more accurate than CT or MR imaging in characterizing indeterminate focal abnormal pulmonary opacities, staging lung cancer, and assessing the therapeutic response. PET imaging in lung cancer also appears to be cost-effective, particularly with whole-body studies. The metabolic and physiologic abnormalities used in FDG-PET imaging, rather than conventional anatomic or morphologic characteristics, provide an invaluable model for the future of tumor imaging.