title: Antituberculosis treatment for a patient with massive ascites: the role of f-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The diagnosis of peritoneal tuberculosis (TB) is difficult, and the condition is often misdiagnosed as advanced ovarian cancer. The clinical discrimination is important to avoid both unnecessary surgery and a delay in anti-TB treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 66-year-old woman presented with abdominal distension. Positron emission tomography (PET) with F18-fluorodeoxyglucose showed a diffuse F18-fluorodeoxyglucose accumulation on the entire peritoneum. The presumptive diagnosis was peritoneal TB, and anti-TB treatment was thus started. Follow-up F18-fluorodeoxyglucose-PET revealed the disappearance of the pathologic foci and a decreased peak standardized uptake value.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  F18-fluorodeoxyglucose-PET may be a helpful tool in the diagnosis of peritoneal TB and serial F18-fluorodeoxyglucose-PET plays a potentially important role in monitoring the treatment response. The peak standardized uptake value may also be helpful for making a quantitative assessment of the therapeutic response.
authors.affiliation: From the Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Niigata University, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, and PET Imaging Center, Tachikawa Medical Center, Niigata, Japan.
authors.forename: Tetsuro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yahata
authors.forename: Mina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Itsukaichi
authors.forename: Yasuoki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mashima
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanaka
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001201:Ascites / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000188:drug therapy; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D014395:Peritonitis, Tuberculous / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000188:drug therapy; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18