Nuclear medicine is a medical imaging specialty involving the use of radioactive compounds for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. As a medical branch, it is considered part of Diagnostic Imaging, but differs substantially from Radiology with respect to the source of the radiation made visible by the diagnostic devices. Nuclear medicine adopts also some types of radioactive emissions for therapeutic purposes, allowing the employment of the metabolic properties of the radiopharmaceuticals for the cure of certain clinical conditions and malignant diseases.Nuclear medicine is a relatively recent discipline and owes its origins to the discovery of natural radioactivity and the development of the first instruments for medical diagnostics. From the introduction of the first gamma camera of Anger, the technology has greatly improved. The evolution has led to the development of SPECT and PET technology and in the recent years to the introduction of hybrid tomographs allowing the combination in one session of both functional and morphological images.The purpose of this textbook is to illustrate synthetically the principals of nuclear medicine diagnostics, with reference both to the technical part and main clinical indications. The booklet is addressed primarily to the degree courses for technologists, but can be reasonably used in other courses and medical training programs where there is necessity for relatively simple, yet complete and clinically relevant concepts of nuclear medicine discipline. As a complement, the manuscript will end with a dedicated section summarizing some concepts of nuclear medicine therapy.

This book provides a comprehensive state-of-the-art review of pediatric nuclear medicine, encompassing both diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Detailed attention is paid to the role of FDG PET-CT within oncology, but a variety of other long-established or less frequently used diagnostic procedures are also covered. Each indication is critically discussed from a clinical perspective, with analysis of benefits and limitations and comparison against the information yield of alternative techniques. The coverage of therapy based on radiopharmaceuticals includes the most relevant current strategies, including those utilizing radioiodine, MIBG, or radiolabelled peptides. In addition, issues concerning the radiation risk of nuclear medicine procedures in children are addressed. All chapters have been written by international experts and include the most up-to-date scientific and clinical information.

This atlas is a concise but comprehensive guide to the diverse patterns of response to immunotherapy as observed on Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (PET/CT) and other conventional imaging modalities, including CT and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). The purpose for this publication is to fill the gap between the growing clinical relevance and utilization of immunotherapy in medical oncology, mainly based on checkpoint inhibitors, and the need for experienced imagers with reliable tools assessing response to treatment. A series of disease-oriented chapters will present the imaging findings during immunotherapy in the major oncological settings, with helpful comparison of functional (PET/CT) and morphological (CT/MRI) patterns of response in individual cases. To complete the atlas, a dedicated chapter will focus on major pitfalls and immune-related adverse events (irAEs) affecting image interpretation during the course of immunotherapy. The concluding chapter will lastly examine the available data and potential developments of immuno-PET, which is considered as the novel frontier of research in this oncological scenario. The atlas will be of high value for radiologists and nuclear medicine specialists at all levels of experience.