Alvarado Hospital Medical Center will make available the latest, most advanced whole-body technology with positron emission tomography (PET), significantly enhancing their diagnostic services offered. PET is a sophisticated clinical test for cancer, heart disease and neurological disorders.

PET is a molecular imaging procedure that generates pictures of the precise location and extent of the disease. By imaging the molecular, biological and functional basis for disease, Pet enables a physician to detect abnormal cell growth and activity. This information aids in the early detecting and improved treatment of many disease, allowing enhanced capabilities in pre-surgical staging, reduction of invasive procedures, enhanced therapy monitoring capabilities and a reduction in the number of diagnostic testes performed.

In oncology, PET is one of the only modalities that can accurately image many organs at one time to diagnose malignancy, even provide information about whether or not cancer has spread to other parts of the body. In addition to cancer studies, PET examines patients for myocardial infractions and looks for reversible damage as opposed to permanent heart damage. PET is also used in neurological studies, investigating brain metabolism in patients with dementia and epilepsy.

PET images are created with the help of three technologies: the cyclotron, which produces radioisotopes; the scanner, which records the location of the radio tracer as it accumulates in different tissues in the body and a computer, which reconstructs the signals into three-dimensional images of the body.

For the patient, PET is a safe and painless procedure, which typically takes about one hour to complete. The system provided on a shared-user basis by Alliance Imaging, Inc. will preliminarily be available for studies and will expand as patient volume increases.

Alvarado Hospital Medical Center is a JCAHO-accredited acute care medical and surgical hospital that opened in 1972 as the 124-bed Alvarado Community Hospital. We offer advanced health care technology and highly personalized attention. Today, Alvarado has grown to the 231-bed hub of a comprehensive medical services campus with 600 affiliated physicians. The Alvarado campus includes an acute care hospital, physical rehabilitation hospital, ambulatory surgery center, and buildings housing specialized clinical programs and physician offices.