Klekovski: Cyclotron fault halts PET service, repairs underway

Health Minister Sasho Klekovski confirmed on social media that the cyclotron at the public PET service is currently faulty and apologised to patients, saying repair work is underway.

In a written post he said the discussion over the capacity of the University Institute for Positron Emission Tomography (UI PET) has been intense in recent days and explained where the problem lies:

"The current defect is not on the PET/CT scanner itself, but on the cyclotron, where the radiopharmaceutical (18F‑FDG) needed for the examination is produced — a defect that is the result of poor servicing, and which is already being addressed. I apologise to patients for the problems caused! When work resumes, priority will be given to patients according to the guidelines of the oncology and haematology clinics! The challenges with servicing cannot obscure the real situation. In 2025 there were 2,703 examinations compared with 2,183 in 2022 — that is 520 more examinations, or growth of ~23.8%, despite there being almost twice as many service days. Despite the increased number of downtime days, the number of patient examinations continued to grow — a sign that the team successfully makes up for lost time and continues to cover more patients," he wrote.

Short-term timeline and capacity

Officials had announced last week that the PET service was back in operation and that patients could make appointments for imaging, with a planned throughput of up to nine patients per day. SDSM leader Venko Filipche said the device ran for only one day: "The PET centre worked for only one day and is now again out of service," he told reporters, adding that the only PET scanner in the public health system has been out of action for two and a half months.

Klekovski stressed that teams are working on removing the defect and that, once fixed, priority scheduling will follow clinical guidance from oncology and haematology departments. He apologised publicly to affected patients and framed the disruption as a technical issue linked to servicing rather than the PET/CT scanner itself.

Officials provided annual figures to show activity at the institute: 2,703 PET examinations in 2025 versus 2,183 in 2022 — an increase of 520 scans (about 23.8%), the minister noted, and said the staff have been compensating for days when the equipment was unavailable.

Photo: press material from the event