With the arrival of the PET-CT at Clinaltec, Ibagué became one of the eight cities in Colombia with this technology, and the only place in the region where a cancer patient can undergo this study without traveling.
The PET-CT combines two ways of looking at the body in a single exam: the nuclear medicine metabolic image, which shows how tissues function, and the radiology anatomical image, which shows where they are. From that combination comes a much more precise diagnosis than from either of the two separately.
What is it used for in practice
Dr. José Mosquera, a Nuclear Medicine specialist and head of the department at Clinaltec, has explained that the usefulness of the PET-CT scan is twofold: it allows for more precise diagnoses and makes it possible to evaluate whether a treatment is working. The latter is what often determines the clinical course—knowing in time that a regimen is not responding avoids months of therapy that provides no benefit.
Although its primary use is oncological, the technology is also applied in other types of diagnosis. For the patient in the region, the concrete change is what no longer happens: the referral to another city and the associated wait.
The event in the media
The arrival of the PET-CT in Ibagué was covered by El Olfato.
This article was written by Clinaltec S.A.S. using its own information. The links lead to the original publications of each media outlet.
