False-positive FDG PET/CT due to liver parenchymal injury caused by a surgical retractor.
A 70-year-old man underwent partial gastrectomy with pathology demonstrating gastric follicular lymphoma. After surgery, a staging FDG PET/CT study demonstrated an FDG-avid low-attenuation band in the liver. Corresponding MRI demonstrated a high T2 signal abnormality. This was believed to represent liver parenchymal injury due to liver retraction during surgery. The patient was managed conservatively. MRI at 1 month of follow-up demonstrated resolution of the T2 signal abnormality. FDG PET/CT at 6 months of follow-up demonstrated resolution of FDG uptake. Tissue injury from surgical retraction can produce FDG-avid lesions that need to be distinguished from malignancy on PET/CT.
Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; and †Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065, USA.
Ashima
A
Lyall
Gary A
GA
Ulaner
D000368:Aged; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D005743:Gastrectomy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation; D006801:Humans; D007431:Intraoperative Complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000293:injuries*; D008297:Male; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D013525:Surgical Instruments / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18