There was talk in parliament about the need for a PET-CT, and the minister of public health responded, saying it was too costly for Aruba, at this time.
I called around, to ask if indeed.
Not really.
Aruba should be looking at the investment, getting a PET-CT, and placing it at Imsan, next to the Radiology Department where the scans can easily be read by the experts in the Miami Cancer Institute who are in daily contact with the Imsan team.
Why should we consider it?
Because we have about 250 radiology patients a year. Their condition is diagnosed via a CT-SCAN. A PET-CT does the same, but the patient is also injected with a tracer, a radioactive drug that shows EXACTLY what’s happening. It is useful in diagnosing patients, and it is especially helpful during the monthly, or quarterly checkups, to detect any abnormal activity. The PET-CT is the most useful test for figuring out the stage of cancer, and if we had a PET-CT we would be scanning more patients and improving the quality of their care.
We could also detect abnormalities much earlier.
For patients in Aruba, and on neighboring Dutch islands.
To summarize, a CT-Scan detects internal injuries and diseases and takes 3D images of bone and tissue; a PET-SCAN is more accurate in finding local or metastatic tumors, and determining if it’s a simple or complex case, because of its use of nuclear medicine.
Does a pet scan mean it comes with a pet? No, says Wikipedia, it means Positron Emission Tomography and Computed Tomography. Aruba should be thinking about its introduction.
From what I understand, Imsan has had a PET-SCAN on its Santa list for a few years. The plan to get one has been dormant for two years, paused by AZV. As I said, we should think about it again.
