Current status of SPECT abdominal imaging

Since the advent of single-photon-emission computed tomography (SPECT), radionuclidic evaluation of various organ systems has gained in popularity. With regard to the abdomen, SPECT imaging has been somewhat slower in terms of being implemented. In the last several years, however, abdominal SPECT imaging procedures have become utilized on an increasing basis in the assessment of abdominal disease. Currently, SPECT is being used in the evaluation of disorders of the liver, spleen, major abdominal vasculature, and kidneys, as well as in the multisystem evaluation of trauma, tumor, and infection. In order to better appreciate the relative contribution that SPECT imaging can make to abdominal nuclear medicine imaging, it is the purpose of this chapter to review, in some detail, SPECT imaging in the abdomen, including the pertinent basic science aspects as well as a review of the techniques, indications, strengths, weaknesses, and pitfalls of the major abdominal SPECT procedures currently available