PET Case 1:

Female patient with rectum carcinoma diagnosed and surgically removed in 1990. During medical workup lung metastases were disvovered in the left lung, which was also removed. During follow-up a suspicious mediastinal mass was discovered by a CAT scan. Monocloal antibody images were negative for cancer in both abdomen and thorax. The surgical team decides to obtain a PET scan of those areas. 35 minutes after intravenous administration of FDG (370 MBq) thorax images clearly show abnormal uptake above the myocardium. The relatively "hot" area does not have uptake in the center, which is consistent with central necrosis. Abnormal uptake was also discovered at the site of the original tumor (not shown). Thorax images were acquired with attenuation correction. Case presented thanks to: Victor L. Villemagne, M.D., A. Cahid Civelek, M.D., Hayden T. Ravert, Ph.D., Robert F. Dannals, Ph.D., Henry N. Wagner, Jr., M.D., and R. Udelsman, M.D. Division of Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Health Sciences and Department of Surgical Sciences, Johns Hopkins University.