18f-fluorodeoxyglucose + rubidium-82

This is a combination of two radiopharmaceuticals, 18f-fluorodeoxyglucose and rubidium‑82, used in positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. **18f-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)** is a glucose analog labeled with the radioactive isotope fluorine‑18. It is taken up by cells via glucose transporters and phosphorylated by hexokinase but cannot be further metabolized, leading to its accumulation in tissues with high glucose metabolism such as tumors or inflamed myocardium. This property allows FDG PET to assess tissue viability, detect malignancy, inflammation, infection, and evaluate myocardial metabolism[6][10]. **Rubidium‑82** is a potassium analog produced from a strontium‑82/rubidium‑82 generator. It enters cells via the sodium-potassium ATPase pump and serves as a perfusion tracer for myocardial blood flow assessment due to its short half-life (~75 seconds)[5][9]. The combination of these agents enables simultaneous evaluation of myocardial perfusion (with Rb‑82) and metabolic activity/viability (with FDG), which is particularly useful for differentiating viable but dysfunctional myocardium ("hibernating" myocardium) from scar tissue in ischemic heart disease[1][4]. This dual-tracer approach also has applications in cardiac sarcoidosis assessment[2], oncology staging/restaging[8][10], and other conditions where both perfusion and metabolic information are clinically relevant.

Brand names

CardioGen-82CardioGen82CardioGen 82RUBY-FILL

Other names

FDG + Rb-82F18-FDG + Rb82