title: PET findings of intramedullary tumors of the spinal cord using [18F] FDG and [11C] methionine.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Only a few reports on intramedullary tumors of the spinal cord using PET have been published. We report findings of PET by using [(18)F] fluorodeoxyglucose and [(11)C] methionine and discuss the usefulness of the findings in patients with intramedullary tumors of the spinal cord.
  
  
  METHODS
  PET/CT was performed in 9 patients with intramedullary tumors of the spinal cord: Six had ependymomas, 1 had an anaplastic astrocytoma, 1 had a hemangioblastoma, and 1 had a cavernous angioma. The maximum standardized uptake value of the tumor was measured and compared with pathologic findings.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The SUVmax of FDG and MET in a case of anaplastic astrocytoma was high. The SUVmax of FDG and MET was relatively high in 4 of 6 cases of ependymoma (excluding myxopapillary ependymomas). A case of hemangioblastoma showed decreased uptake of both FDG and MET (SUVmax = 2.0 and 1.4, respectively). Three cases with hemorrhage (1 case of ependymoma, 1 case of cellular ependymoma, and 1 case of cavernous angioma) showed a relatively increased uptake of FDG.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both FDG and MET accumulated to a large degree in an anaplastic astrocytoma and accumulated in ependymomas (excluding a myxopapillary ependymoma). FDG can accumulate in tumors with hemorrhage. More investigation of a larger number of patients is required to evaluate the diagnostic value of PET with FDG and MET for imaging intramedullary tumors of the spinal cord.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Radiology, Southern Tohoku Research Institute for Neuroscience, Southern Tohoku General Hospital, Fukushima, Japan. tomura@bloom.ocn.ne.jp
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tomura
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsuoka
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saginoya
authors.forename: S-I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Numazawa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mizuno
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001254:Astrocytoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D002648:Child; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004806:Ependymoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D018325:Hemangioblastoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D020786:Hemangioma, Cavernous, Central Nervous System / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008715:Methionine; D008875:Middle Aged; D064847:Multimodal Imaging / Q000379:methods; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D013120:Spinal Cord Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D008715:Methionine