Increased FDG activity in a dermatofibroma in esophageal cancer patient.
PET using the radiotracer (18)F-FDG is used for staging patients with esophageal cancer. Nonmalignant conditions, mainly inflammation and some benign tumors, however, can cloud the clinical picture by taking up FDG and producing a false-positive result. We report the case of a 46 year-old man with squamous cell carcinoma of the thoracic esophagus who underwent combined PET/CT and had false-positive uptake in a chest wall dermatofibroma. Dermatofibroma is a benign skin lesion with a characteristic large presence of fibroblasts and macrophages. Macrophage uptake of FDG is likely responsible for the false-positive result on PET/CT.
Department of Surgery, The Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Brigid A
BA
Bingham
Daniel A
DA
Hatef
Patricia
P
Chevez-Barrios
Shanda H
SH
Blackmon
Min P
MP
Kim
D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 / Q000378:metabolism; D018219:Histiocytoma, Benign Fibrous / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18