PET [ 11 C]acetate is also a perfusion tracer for kidney evaluation purposes.

•In healthy subjects, direct estimates of renal oxygen consumption is obtained by PET with a single tracer [11C] acetate using a mono compartmental model.•Renal extraction fraction of [11C] acetate in humans is around 52% allowing a quantitative evaluation of renal oxygen consumption.•A single injection of [11C]acetate allows renal oxidative metabolism and renal perfusion simultaneous assessment, reducing patient irradiation, allowing a global evaluation of renal performances.