Imaging Gallbladder Lesions: What Can Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography Add to the Conventional Imaging Approach?

Objective: Incidental gallbladder lesions are common in imaging studies, although it is not always easy to discriminate benign lesions from gallbladder cancer with conventional imaging procedures. The present study aims to assess the capacity of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) with 2-[ 18 F]FDG to distinguish between benign and malignant pathology of the gallbladder, compared with conventional imaging techniques (contrast-enhanced CT or magnetic resonance imaging).

Methods: Positron emission tomography/CT and conventional imaging studies of 53 patients with gallbladder lesions were evaluated and visually classified as benign, malignant, or inconclusive.

2-[F]FDG PET/CT as a Predictor of Microvascular Invasion and High Histological Grade in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) generally presents a low avidity for 2-deoxy-2-[F]fluoro-d-glucose (FDG) in PET/CT although an increased FDG uptake seems to relate to more aggressive biological factors. To define the prognostic value of PET/CT with FDG in patients with an HCC scheduled for a tumor resection, forty-one patients were prospectively studied. The histological factors of a poor prognosis were determined and FDG uptake in the HCC lesions was analyzed semi-quantitatively (lean body mass-corrected standardized uptake value (SUL) and tumor-to-liver ratio (TLR) at different time points).

Mediastinal Recurrence of Uterine Cervix Cancer on 18F-FDG PET/CT.

We report the case of a 64-year-old woman with a mediastinal relapse of a uterine cervix cancer with positive human papillomavirus, an unusual site of recurrence. She consulted because of solid and liquid dysphagia of sudden appearance. Endoscopic study and non-contrast-enhanced CT showed intraluminal esophageal stenosis with a retrograde esophageal distension.

F-FDG PET/CT in a patient with atypical presentation of cardiac angiosarcoma.

Primary cardiac or pericardial tumors are infrequent, metastatic involvement being more common. Cardiac angiosarcoma is a rare primary malignant tumor of mesenchymal origin. It entails a poor prognosis mostly due to frequent metastases at the time of diagnosis, as well as low response to onco-specific treatments.

Differences on metabolic behavior between intra and extrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas at F-FDG-PET/CT: prognostic implication of metabolic parameters and tumor markers.

Background And Purpose: Cholangiocarcinoma is an infrequent neoplasm barely studied with F-FDG-PET/CT. We evaluated the metabolic behavior of cholangiocarcinoma in PET/CT according to its location (intra or extrahepatic) and analyzed the relationship between metabolic parameters of the primary tumor and tumor markers (CA19-9 and CEA), determining their prognostic significance.

Methods: Retrospective study of PET/CT of 60 patients with untreated cholangiocarcinoma, divided into two groups according to tumor location.