title: Asymmetric pulmonary hypermetabolism on 18F-FDG PET/CT caused by pulmonary embolism.
abstract: We present a case of diffuse and moderately increased 18F-FDG uptake in the entire left lung on 18F-FDG PET without any morphological parenchymal abnormalities in a patient with recent history of esophageal adenocarcinoma treated by minimal invasive surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy. Contrast-enhanced CT revealed a large embolism in the left pulmonary artery with near total occlusion. In the absence of parenchymal lesions, the increased 18F-FDG uptake is most likely an inflammatory response to a recent ischemic insult. This case illustrates that asymmetric lung hypermetabolism in the absence of parenchymal disease can be caused by a central pulmonary embolism.
authors.affiliation: From the Depatments of *Nuclear Medicine, †Cardiovascular Medicine, and ‡Radiology, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Evert
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Caekebeke
authors.forename: Christophe M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Deroose
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Verhamme
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Coolen
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gheysens
mesh_terms: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18