Worldwide Availability and Utilization of PET/CT from IAEA Survey

Abstract

Hybrid imaging using PET/CT have various applications in cardiology. Anatomy, physiology or both can be evaluated. Routine attenuation correction can be performed and improve accuracy for nuclear cardiology studies. The extent of availability and utilization of hybrid imaging technology worldwide is currently unknown. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in cooperation with QUANTA performed a web-based survey among physicians working with nuclear imaging to evaluate the current availability of hybrid imaging and its use for nuclear cardiology (NC). Contact e mails of physicians working in the field of nuclear cardiology were available from a data base at the human health department of the IAEA in Vienna, Austria and an international network of nuclear cardiologist at QUANTA in Curitiba, Brazil. Data from 80 countries in both high-income countries (HIC, n = 16) and low-and-middle income countries (LMIC, n = 64) representing all world regions, was obtained. At the country level, PET/CT is available in all world regions being widely available in North and Latin America, Europe, Asia and Oceania with a heterogeneous availability in Africa. Nevertheless, only 22.4% of centers in HIC and 10.9% in LMIC that have PET/CT available use it for NC applications. These data will help us to work with scientific societies and institutions to design strategies to diffuse information for physicians so they can take full advantage of PET/CT technology to obtain additional information that could impact patient care.