New applications of radionuclide studies in thoracic imaging

Future radionuclide studies in the lung will encompass not only improved evaluation of regional ventilation and perfusion in pulmonary embolism and lung cancer, but should also provide new information about alveolar-capillary permeability, cell kinetics in the lung, and pulmonary metabolism and receptors. With this increase in the scope of pulmonary nuclear medicine must come further refinement of current imaging techniques and development of new radiopharmaceuticals. Pulmonary emission tomography (via single photons or positrons), which reduces or eliminates functional superimposition in the lung, seems to be the most promising technique for performing such studies. In the area of new radiopharmaceuticals, radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies appear promising for studies of lung cancer. These developments suggest that the next few years will be exciting ones for those interested in pulmonary radionuclide studies.