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Figure
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Figure
1b |
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Figure
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Figure
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Figure
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Figure
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History:
CT examination of the chest (Figure 1a) on an 86 year old male showed
a right lung nodule. The patient was referred to Main Street
Radiology for a whole body PET scan.
Findings:
A hypermetabolic focus is seen within the right lower lobe on the
axial PET image of the chest (Figure 1b) corresponding to the CT
finding, compatible with carcinoma. CT-PET fusion image (Figure 1c)
shows CT anatomical correlation of the functional PET finding. Axial
PET image of the upper abdomen (Figure 2b) along with the CT-PET
fusion image (Figure 2c) show abnormal activity within the liver and
spine (arrows), compatible with metastatic disease, which are not
appreciated on the CT exam (Figure 2a).
Discussion:
PET is a functional imaging study, which exploits the hypermetabolic
activity of cancers, manifested by increase uptake of a radioactive
glucose analogue. However, since most normal tissues demonstrate far
less activity, anatomical detail is limited. Correlation with a CT
scan is often helpful to localize the exact location of PET scan
abnormalities. While side-to-side comparison of PET and CT scan is
usually sufficient, "fusion" of the two studies into a
single set of images can be helpful. At Main Street Radiology,
we have acquired CT-PET fusion software. When a CT scan is performed
at MSR, the data can be "fused" with the corresponding PET
scan.
Clinical Case
Studies
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Main
Street Radiology
PET
Clinical
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