PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - C. Pedersen
AU  - M. Aboian
AU  - J.E. McConathy
AU  - H. Daldrup-Link
AU  - A.M. Franceschi
TI  - PET/MRI in Pediatric Neuroimaging: Primer for Clinical Practice
AID  - 10.3174/ajnr.A7464
DP  - 2022 May 05
TA  - American Journal of Neuroradiology
4099  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/early/2022/05/05/ajnr.A7464.short
4100  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/early/2022/05/05/ajnr.A7464.full
AB  - SUMMARY: Modern pediatric imaging seeks to provide not only exceptional anatomic detail but also physiologic and metabolic information of the pathology in question with as little radiation penalty as possible. Hybrid PET/MR imaging combines exquisite soft-tissue information obtained by MR imaging with functional information provided by PET, including metabolic markers, receptor binding, perfusion, and neurotransmitter release data. In pediatric neuro-oncology, PET/MR imaging is, in many ways, ideal for follow-up compared with PET/CT, given the superiority of MR imaging in neuroimaging compared with CT and the lower radiation dose, which is relevant in serial imaging and long-term follow-up of pediatric patients. In addition, although MR imaging is the main imaging technique for the evaluation of spinal pathology, PET/MR imaging may provide useful information in several clinical scenarios, including tumor staging and follow-up, treatment response assessment of spinal malignancies, and vertebral osteomyelitis. This review article covers neuropediatric applications of PET/MR imaging in addition to considerations regarding radiopharmaceuticals, imaging protocols, and current challenges to clinical implementation.DOPAdioxyphenylalanineDOTATATE[tetrazetan-D-Phe1,Tyr3]-octreotateFETfluoroethyltyrosinemFBGmeta-fluorobenzylguanidineMIBGmetaiodobenzylguanidineLCHLangerhans cell histiocytosismaxmaximumMETmethionineSUVstandard uptake value