title: [Foreign body granuloma with positive 18-fluorodeoxyglucose positoron emission tomography( FDGPET)3 years after thymectomy].
abstract: A seventies year-old woman underwent thymo-thymectomy through a median sternotomy for type B2 thymoma. Annual screening with fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) and computed tomography( CT) did not show any abnormality until 3 years after surgery, when a FDG-positive lesion, 1.5 cm in diameter, was found in the top of the anterior mediastinum. The lesion was resected under the diagnosis of thymoma recurrence, but was pathologically diagnosed as a foreign body granuloma including a suture thread. False-positive results with FDG-PET are related to FDG-uptake by inflammatory cells (e.g. macrophages and lymphocytes in the granuloma). Although FDG-PET is useful for diagnosing the postoperative recurrence of tumors, it should be noted that a foreign body granuloma and local recurrence of tumor have similar growth rates and both appear positive on FDGPET.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary and Thoracic Surgery, National Hospital Organization, Kanagawa Hospital, Hadano, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasoo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sugiura
authors.forename: Masafumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawamura
authors.forename: Etsuo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nemoto
authors.forename: Shizuka
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaseda
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D015745:Granuloma, Foreign-Body / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D013934:Thymectomy; D013945:Thymoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18