A medical prescription is required in order to carry out the tests. As these are Nuclear Medicine procedures, the scans involve the administration of a very low-dose radioactive drug, which is eliminated over the following hours via the urine or the digestive tract. Before any scan, the procedure will be explained to you and you will be given a specific information sheet. If you are a woman and are pregnant, think you may be pregnant, or are breastfeeding, please inform the healthcare staff before the scan. Patients who are minors or who require special care must always be accompanied.
Available procedures
- NEURO-01 Brain PET-CT with ¹⁸F-FDG
- NEURO-02 Amyloid brain PET-CT
- NEURO-03 Brain PET-CT with ¹⁸F-DOPA
- NEURO-04 Brain perfusion tomography (SPECT)
- NEURO-05 Brain perfusion tomography (SPECT) after pharmacological intervention
- NEURO-06 Brain perfusion tomography (SPECT) after neuroactivation
- NEURO-07 Cerebral radionuclide angiography
- NEURO-08 Brain death scintigraphy
- NEURO-09 Brain tomographic scintigraphy with Datscan
- NEURO-10 Brain dopamine transporter tomographic scintigraphy (SPECT) (¹²³I-ioflupane)
- NEURO-11 Test for the assessment of brain metastases and tumours with ¹⁸F-DOPA
- NEURO-12 Brain tomographic scintigraphy (SPECT/SPECT-CT) with tumour-avid or metabolic activity radiotracers
- NEURO-13 Radionuclide cisternography
NEURO-01
Brain PET-CT with ¹⁸F-FDG
Description: Study of brain glucose metabolism.
Preparation
- Requires fasting for 4-6 hours.
- Usual medication should be taken. Psychotropic drugs may be withdrawn.
- If required, sedation will be given 20 minutes after the administration of FDG, preferably before image acquisition, in accordance with the anaesthesia procedure.
Indications
- Early diagnosis and differential diagnosis of dementias.
- Study of movement disorders, for the characterisation of atypical parkinsonisms.
- Delineation of the epileptogenic focus in the interictal phase in epilepsy.
- Assessment of certain psychiatric disorders (schizophrenia, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder).
- Assessment of traumatic brain injuries and cerebrovascular diseases.
Test duration
30 minutes.
NEURO-02
Amyloid brain PET-CT
Description: Assessment of the presence of cerebral β-amyloid.
Preparation
- No prior preparation is needed.
Indications
- Early diagnosis and differential diagnosis of dementias, by determining the presence or absence of β-amyloid.
Test duration
1 to 2 hours.
NEURO-03
Brain PET-CT with ¹⁸F-DOPA
Description: Assessment of ioflupane uptake at the dopaminergic receptors of the basal ganglia. Presynaptic study of the nigrostriatal pathway.
Preparation
- No prior preparation is required.
Indications
- Differential diagnosis of Parkinson's disease and parkinsonian syndromes.
Test duration
4 hours.
NEURO-04 · 05 · 06
Brain perfusion tomography (SPECT) / Brain perfusion tomography (SPECT) after pharmacological intervention / Brain perfusion tomography (SPECT) after neuroactivation
Description: Assessment of cerebral perfusion through the intravenous administration of a perfusion and neuronal metabolism tracer.
Preparation
- No prior preparation is required.
- It is advisable to avoid the administration of drugs acting on the central nervous system.
Indications
- Assessment of cerebral perfusion.
- Tomographic studies for the differential diagnosis of dementias (Alzheimer's, Pick's, multi-infarct).
- Pre-surgical assessment of the epileptic patient: localisation of the epileptogenic focus in complex partial seizures and assessment of cerebral perfusion during the amobarbital test.
- Assessment of certain psychiatric disorders (schizophrenia, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder).
- Assessment of cerebrovascular diseases.
- Assessment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
- Assessment of traumatic brain injuries.
- Study of clinical-radiological dissociation.
- Assessment of systemic diseases (SLE, Behçet's…).
Test duration
40 minutes.
NEURO-07 · 08
Cerebral radionuclide angiography / Brain death scintigraphy
Description: Assessment of brain activity through the intravenous administration of a perfusion and neuronal metabolism tracer. Diagnosis of brain death.
Preparation
- No prior preparation is required.
- It is advisable to avoid the administration of drugs acting on the central nervous system.
Indications
- Diagnosis of brain death.
- Tomographic studies for the differential diagnosis of dementias (Alzheimer's, Pick's, multi-infarct).
- Pre-surgical assessment of the epileptic patient: localisation of the epileptogenic focus in complex partial seizures and assessment of cerebral perfusion during the amobarbital test.
- Assessment of certain psychiatric disorders (schizophrenia, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder).
- Assessment of cerebrovascular diseases.
- Assessment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
- Assessment of traumatic brain injuries.
- Study of clinical-radiological dissociation.
- Assessment of systemic diseases (SLE, Behçet's…).
Test duration
40 minutes.
NEURO-09 · 10
Brain tomographic scintigraphy with Datscan / Brain dopamine transporter tomographic scintigraphy (SPECT) (¹²³I-ioflupane)
Description: Assessment of ioflupane uptake at the presynaptic dopaminergic receptors of the basal ganglia. Presynaptic study of the nigrostriatal pathway.
Preparation
- No prior preparation is needed.
- 20 drops of Lugol's solution must be administered 45-60 minutes before the test.
Indications
- Differential diagnosis of Parkinson's disease and parkinsonian syndromes.
Test duration
4 hours.
NEURO-11
Test for the assessment of brain metastases and tumours with ¹⁸F-DOPA
Description: Study of dopaminergic uptake in brain metastases and tumours. Study to differentiate between high-grade and low-grade tumours.
Preparation
- Fasting for at least 4 hours before the test.
Indications
- Suspected metastases, brain tumours and brain recurrence.
Test duration
1 hour.
NEURO-12
Brain tomographic scintigraphy (SPECT/SPECT-CT) with tumour-avid or metabolic activity radiotracers
Description: Assessment of the uptake of thallium or technetium-labelled compounds by brain tumours.
Preparation
- No prior preparation is needed.
Indications
- Assessment of the degree of malignancy and metabolic activity of brain tumours.
- Assessment of therapeutic response to surgery or radiotherapy and detection of recurrences, making it possible to differentiate them from radiation necrosis.
- Differential diagnosis between lymphoma and other brain masses (toxoplasmosis…) in HIV-positive patients.
Test duration
2 to 24 hours.
NEURO-13
Radionuclide cisternography
Description: Assessment of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) dynamics.
Preparation
- No prior preparation is needed.
- No fasting is required.
Indications
- Diagnosis of normal pressure hydrocephalus.
- Identification of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks or fistulas.
- Assessment of the patency of surgical shunts.
Test duration
48 hours.