With new state-of-the-art equipment and the first digital PET/CT machine operating in Greek private hospitals, Errikos Dunan is essentially creating a model Center for Diagnostic and Therapeutic Nuclear Medicine, providing extremely accurate and vital diagnoses, primarily for early diagnosis and treatment of neoplasms.

The digital PET/CT of Henricos Dunan, licensed by the Ministry of Health and using EOPYY, is the most advanced imaging equipment, with a number of advantages over conventional imaging. Its operation not only upgrades the Nuclear Medicine Center of the hospital, but also makes it one of the most specialized centers abroad.

PET/CT is an imaging system that combines two modalities, PET (positron emission tomography) and CT (computed tomography) in a single machine, offering anatomical and metabolic information simultaneously, imaging the entire body. With the greatest possible precision available to modern technology, it records metabolic changes at the cellular level and recognizes how organs and tissues work, through a completely patient-friendly process.

In clinical practice, the PET/CT examination is used in the vast majority for the imaging of oncological patients, with the use of an appropriate radiopharmaceutical. It plays a decisive role in early diagnosis, initial staging, selection of the appropriate site for biopsy and planning of radiotherapy, in the early assessment of response to treatment, being a valuable prognostic biomarker, in re-staging after treatment, as well as in the detection of possible recurrence.

To a lesser, but constantly increasing extent, PET/CT is also used to investigate inflammation, neurological disorders, myocardial diseases, etc. In synergy with the Endocrine Gland Surgery Clinic & Department of Parathyroid Surgery, it is expected to be a reference center for PET choline tests in the investigation of parathyroid adenomas.

“Precision medicine has the potential to revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, as through a 3D imaging of all organs in the body, it allows us to locate and examine tumors in greater detail while they are still growing. The PET/CT examination can detect the disease earlier, before it becomes evident in the other imaging methods”, emphasize the director of the Center for Diagnostic and Therapeutic Nuclear Medicine of Erricos Dunan, Mr. Ioannis Koutsikos and the deputy director, Mrs. Evangelia Skouras.

The innovative digital equipment of Henricos Dunan for PET/CT examinations, in addition to greater imaging accuracy, offers rapid imaging and a reduction of the radiation burden of the examinee, through the reduction of the administered dose of radiopharmaceutical. At the same time, and as the ring width of the machine is the largest on the market, it makes it ideal for people who suffer from claustrophobia. Furthermore, the addition of a gallium generator (68Ga/68Ge generator) increases the diagnostic possibilities, contributing to the integrated treatment of neuroendocrine tumors and prostate cancer, guiding the individualized therapeutic approach, in a holistic application of theranostics, to Henry Dunant.

It should be noted that the radiopharmaceuticals used in positron tomography examinations are not related to the contrast agents administered in conventional imaging examinations and therefore do not cause allergic incidents. Patients with renal dysfunction – failure can undergo PET/CT without any renal burden, while there is no effect on patients with thyroid disorders, as the radiopharmaceuticals do not contain iodine.