title: (11)C-Methionine positron emission tomography may monitor the activity of encephalitis.
abstract: Encephalitis is generally diagnosed by clinical symptoms, cerebrospinal fluid examination, and imaging studies including CT, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and perfusion single photon emission tomography (SPECT). However, the role of positron emission tomography (PET) in diagnosis of encephalitis remains unclear. A 49-year-old woman presenting with coma and elevated inflammatory reaction was diagnosed as having encephalitis according to slow activity on electroencephalogram, broad cortical lesion in MR fluid attenuated inversion recovery image, and increased blood flow demonstrated by SPECT. PET revealed increased accumulation of (11)C-methionine (MET) in the affected brain tissues. After the symptom had improved 2 months later, the accumulation of MET as well as the abnormal findings of MR imaging and SPECT was normalized. This case indicated that MET PET may monitor the activity of encephalitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan. khirata@med.hokudai.ac.jp
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hirata
authors.forename: Tohru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shiga
authors.forename: Noriyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fujima
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Manabe
authors.forename: Reiko
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Usui
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kuge
authors.forename: Nagara
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tamaki
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D003287:Contrast Media; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004660:Encephalitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008715:Methionine; D008875:Middle Aged; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; C086242:carbon-11 methionine; D008715:Methionine; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA