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Fludeoxyglucose (18F) (INN), or fludeoxyglucose (F18) (USAN), also commonly called fluorodeoxyglucose and abbreviated [18F]FDG, 18F-FDG or FDG, is a radiopharmaceutical used in the medical imaging modality positron emission tomography (PET). Chemically, it is 2-deoxy-2-(18F)fluoro- D -glucose, a glucose analog, with the positron-emitting radioactive isotope fluorine-18 substituted for the normal hydroxyl group at the 2' position in the glucose molecule. The uptake of 18F-FDG by tissues is a marker for the tissue uptake of glucose, which in turn is closely correlated with certain types of tissue metabolism. After 18F-FDG is injected into a patient, a PET scanner can form two dimensional or three dimensional images of the distribution of 18F-FDG within the body. The images can be assessed by a nuclear medicine physician or radiologist to provide diagnoses of various medical conditions.

History
In 1968, Dr. Josef Pacak, Zdenek Tocik and Miloslav Cerny at the Department of Organic Chemistry, Charles University, Czechoslovakia were the first to describe the synthesis of FDG. Later, in the 1970s, Tatsuo Ido and Al Wolf at the Brookhaven National Laboratory were the first to describe the synthesis of FDG labeled with 18F. The compound was first administered to two normal human volunteers by Abass Alavi in August, 1976 at the University of Pennsylvania. Brain images obtained with an ordinary (non-PET) nuclear scanner demonstrated the concentration of 18F-FDG in that organ (see history reference below).