How Fluorine-18-labeled Fluorodeoxyglucose PET Changed Clinical Practice in Central Nervous System Disorders

Over 5 decades, fluorine-18-labeled fluorodeoxyglucose ([18F]FDG) PET has transformed clinical practice in central nervous system (CNS) disorders by enabling in vivo assessment of brain metabolism as a surrogate of functional integrity. Beyond structural imaging, it provides reproducible, pattern-based biomarkers that improve diagnostic accuracy in dementia, epilepsy, and selected neuroinflammatory conditions. In the evolving biomarker landscape, [18F]FDG PET remains uniquely positioned to capture downstream network dysfunction and phenotypic expression of disease. Supported by standardized methodologies and expanding analytical approaches, it continues to play a central role in differential diagnosis, prognostic assessment, and integrated precision neurology.