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Updated: Jan 15, 2026

Whole-body PET/MRI of Pediatric Patients: The Details That Matter
Published on: December 19, 2017
Pediatric PET/MRI: Imaging Techniques, Indications, and Clinical Implementation
Sergios Gatidis1, Maria Rosana Ponisio1, Lise Borgwardt1
1From the Department of Radiology, Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford, Stanford University, 725 Welch Rd, G-374, Stanford, CA 94305 (S.G., E.N., H.R.N.); Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, St. Louis, Mo (M.R.P., M.H., R. Laforest); Rigshospitalet Kobenhavn, Copenhagen, Denmark (L.B.); The Royal Children's Hospital Foundation, Parkville, Australia (T.M.C.); The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia (P.F.); Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn (G.J.); Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Leipzig Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig, Germany (L.K.); Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Mass (R. Lim); Department of Radiology, University of Alabama Birmingham, Birmingham, Ala (J.M.); Nemours Children Hospital, Wilmington, Del (T.M.); Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY (N.P.T.); Children's Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wis (J.Q.); Department of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa (L.J.S.); and Universita degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy (P.Z.).
Abstract:
PET/MRI has been established as a clinical imaging modality with a wide range of applications. In pediatric imaging, it has been shown to provide valuable diagnostic information for a variety of indications and clinical questions. Despite the increasing availability of clinical PET/MRI, its routine use for pediatric patients is still primarily limited to large clinical and academic centers. One reason is the high complexity of pediatric PET/MRI, which requires thorough patient preparation and examination planning, skilled image acquisition, and careful image interpretation. The authors provide practical guidance to support the clinical implementation of pediatric PET/MRI and thus increase its availability to pediatric patients. To this end, the authors provide an overview of technical prerequisites, imaging protocols, clinical indications, and image analysis strategies. These aspects are illustrated with clinical examples provided by established clinical pediatric PET/MRI programs worldwide. ©RSNA, 2025 Supplemental material is available for this article.
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