Scans and heart tests
PET scan report explainer
A PET report describes how strongly different parts of the body took up a radioactive tracer, using numbers called SUV and words such as avid that have no everyday meaning. Add your report below to see each region listed with what the radiologist wrote about it, in ordinary words.
Explain your PET scan report
- 1. Add itDrop a PDF, take a photo or paste the text.
- 2. Check itPersonal details are removed on your device. You approve what is sent.
- 3. Read itSummary, table of results, terms and questions to ask.
The explainer opens on its own page with no adverts and no outside scripts. Your file is read on your device and is never uploaded.
What you get
- Each body region on its own row with the uptake the report describes there.
- SUVmax figures listed next to the finding they belong to, exactly as printed.
- Words such as avid, hypermetabolic, physiologic and photopenic defined.
- Questions to take to the team that requested the scan.
Wording you may see
- FDGFluorodeoxyglucose, a sugar-like tracer with a radioactive tag that most PET scans use
- UptakeHow much of the tracer collected in an area
- SUV and SUVmaxStandardized uptake value, a number for how much tracer an area took up, and the highest value measured within it
- FDG-avid or hypermetabolicAn area that took up more tracer than its surroundings
- Non-avidAn area that did not take up more tracer than the tissue around it
- Physiologic uptakeTracer in places where it normally collects, such as the brain, heart, kidneys and bladder
- Deauville scoreA five-point scale, used in some lymphoma reports, that compares uptake with the liver and with the blood in the chest
What this tool cannot tell you
Tracer uptake shows where cells are using more sugar, and a report cannot always say why, because several quite different processes can make an area take up tracer. SUV figures also shift with the scanner, the timing of the scan and the blood sugar level on the day, so no single number separates one cause from another. MedicDecode restates what the report says and does not judge what an area of uptake is. That reading belongs to your specialist, who has your history and earlier scans to compare.
Common questions
What does FDG-avid mean?
It means the area took up noticeably more of the FDG tracer than the tissue around it. The word describes how the area looked on the scan and does not, on its own, say what the cause is.
Why does the report mention uptake in my brain, heart and bladder?
The tracer normally collects in some organs and leaves the body in urine, so those areas light up on every scan. Reports call this physiologic uptake to record that it was seen and was expected.
My SUVmax is different from the one on my last scan. Can I compare them?
Only with care, because SUV depends on how each scan was carried out. Reports usually state whether the radiologist regards a change as meaningful, and the explanation shows both figures when your report prints them. Ask your specialist how the two scans compare.
Words you may see on this report
Tap a word for its plain-English meaning, an example line and what it does not mean.
- Atelectasis
Atelectasis means part of a lung is not fully expanded, so the small air sacs there are partly or completely deflated.
- BI-RADS
BI-RADS is a scoring system from 0 to 6 used on mammogram, breast ultrasound and breast MRI reports to describe findings and next steps.
- Cardiomegaly
Cardiomegaly means the heart looks larger than expected, usually on a chest X-ray, and it is a description rather than a diagnosis.
- Clinical correlation
Clinical correlation means the radiologist is asking your doctor to compare the scan with your symptoms, examination and other tests.
- Consolidation
Consolidation on a chest scan means part of the lung that is normally filled with air is filled with something else, such as fluid or pus.
- Contrast
Contrast is a dye given before or during a scan to make blood vessels and certain tissues show up more clearly.
- Cyst
A cyst is a closed sac with a thin wall that usually holds fluid, and simple cysts seen on scans are very common and usually harmless.
- Degenerative changes
Degenerative changes means wear-and-tear changes in joints or the spine that commonly happen with age and use.
- Disc bulge
A disc bulge means a spinal disc extends a little beyond its normal edge, usually evenly around a wide area. It is very common.
- Effusion
An effusion is extra fluid that has collected in a space in the body, such as around the lungs, in a joint or around the heart.
- Ejection fraction
Ejection fraction is the percentage of blood the heart's main pumping chamber pushes out with each beat. It is one measure of heart pumping.
- Enhancement
Enhancement means an area becomes brighter on a scan after contrast dye is given, which shows it has a blood supply.