title: FDG PET Imaging in Pneumocystis Pneumonia.
abstract: A 69-year-old woman with rheumatoid arthritis and pleuritis presented with dyspnea. On admission, she was afebrile and had an oxygen saturation of 97% on ambient air. Chest radiography and CT revealed only subtle ground-glass opacities. However, FDG PET revealed pathological uptake in both lungs. A diagnosis of Pneumocystis pneumonia was made based on a positive β-D-glucan assay and polymerase chain reaction amplification of Pneumocystis jirovecii from the sputum. Posttreatment FDG PET revealed resolution of the previously noted uptake. This case illustrates that FDG PET can be used to diagnose Pneumocystis pneumonia when the CT findings are equivocal.
authors.affiliation: From the *Division of Rheumatic Diseases and †Division of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Radiology, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kono
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kubota
authors.forename: Toshikazu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kano
authors.forename: Akio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mimori
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D045363:Pneumocystis carinii / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011020:Pneumonia, Pneumocystis / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000382:microbiology; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18