Acute varicella infection mimics recurrent Hodgkin's disease on F-18 FDG PET/CT.
We report a case where acute varicella infection, chickenpox, mimics the findings of recurrent Hodgkin disease on F-18 FDG PET/CT. A 28-year-old man with a history of Hodgkin disease in remission had fatigue, pyrexia, and a raised ESR. His F-18 FDG PET/CT, performed to exclude lymphoma recurrence, demonstrated FDG-avid lymphadenopathy and increased FDG uptake in his spleen. A day later he developed the generalized rash of acute varicella infection. This was managed with valacyclovir. Repeat F-18 FDG PET/CT done 1 month later showed no evidence of FDG-avid disease. In this patient the stimulation of an immune response by the acute viral infection mimics recurrent lymphoma.
Sheehy
Niall
N
Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115, USA. nsheehy@partners.org
Israel
David A
DA
D000328:Adult; D002644:Chickenpox / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000175:diagnosis*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18