Houston Northwest Medical Center now offers PET/CT (positron emission tomography and computed tomography) scanning for patients in northwest Houston. PET/CT technology offers a more complete picture of the location of a tumor and its growth or spread than either test alone. 

“PET/CT scan may be done for a variety of reasons, such as to detect cancer, determine if cancer has spread to other areas in the body, evaluate the effectiveness of a treatment plan, or locate any cancer that may have returned after treatment,” explains Kee Wee, M.D., radiologist and nuclear medicine physician on the medical staff at Houston Northwest Medical Center. “In addition, a PET/CT scan may be done to track normal brain or heart function, as well as to check brain abnormalities such as tumors or seizures or Alzheimer disease, etc.”

The CT scan is completed first, followed by the PET scan. The entire process usually takes about one hour, about half of which is actual scan time. A radiologist (a physician with special training to interpret imaging results) will review the images and send a report to the referring physician to discuss with the patient.