Case report: PET/CT, a cautionary tale.
BACKGROUND
The use of combined positron emission tomography/computerised tomography (PET/CT) scanners in oncology has been shown to improve the staging of tumours and the detection of relapses. However, mis-registration errors are increasingly recognised to be a common pitfall of PET/CT studies.


METHODS
We report a patient with a germ cell tumour of the testis, who underwent a PET/CT scan to detect the site of relapse with a view to surgical removal. However, the PET/CT scan mislocalised the tumour site to be within the T2 vertebral body. A subsequent endoscopic ultrasound scan however showed the tumour to be anterior to the vertebral body, which was confirmed at surgery.


CONCLUSIONS
In this report, we highlight the artefactual mislocalisation errors which may occur with PET/CT imaging, and the need to review and verify these scans.
Department of Medical Oncology, Imperial College School of Medicine, Charing Cross Hospital, London, UK. jwang@hhnt.nhs.uk <jwang@hhnt.nhs.uk>
Jayson
J
Wang
Gary
G
Cook
John
J
Frank
Roberto
R
Dina
Naomi
N
Livni
John
J
Lynn
William
W
Fleming
Michael J
MJ
Seckl
D000328:Adult; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009373:Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D012008:Recurrence; D013736:Testicular Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology