Point/counterpoint provides food for thought in nuclear medicine

One of the things a good newsmagazine should do is provide contrasting opinions on important issues. It is something we try to achieve with nearly every article we carry.

On rare occasions, we have the opportunity to present side-by-side contrasting viewpoints on a timely topic. This month is one of those occasions.

Beginning on page 51, you'll find a point/counterpoint presentation on the future of SPECT imaging and whether it will be supplanted by PET.

Dr. Abass Alavi and Dr. Stanley Goldsmith articulate the pro (PET) and con (SPECT) positions. The articles were commissioned by DI news editor C.P. Kaiser.

The debate is an ideal one for the June issue, which traditionally has a nuclear medicine focus and is distributed at the Society of Nuclear Medicine meeting that takes place this month.

Whether you end up agreeing with Alavi that PET is already replacing SPECT in many indications and will soon take over all of them, or with Goldsmith that SPECT will play an important role in nuclear medicine for many years to come, I think you'll find the discussion enlightening from both a clinical and an economic perspective.

I think you'll also find the discussion contains useful information for both nuclear medicine physicians and the radiologists who practice nuclear medicine on a part-time basis.

John C. Hayes is editor of Diagnostic Imaging