Heart in the heart: Dual faced primary cardiac lymphoma on PET–CT

Value of FDG-PET/CT using unfractionated heparin for managing primary cardiac lymphoma and several key findings

“…11 Recently, several reports have shown FDG-PET/CT imaging of PCL. 12,13 The critical role of FDG-PET and PET/CT for ML has been widely reported. 14 Given the frequency of infiltration in ML, whole body inspection is needed for PCL patients to evaluate the extent of the lesion.…”

Primary cardiac lymphoma detected by 18F-FDG PET scan: A case report

“…It may also identify residual masses after the end of treatment, if they represent viable tumor tissue or fibrosis, with a specificity of 92%. 3,4 Case Presentation. A male patient 51 years of age was diagnosed with typical atrial flutter in 1999.…”

“…3 It can also contribute to establishing the degree of malignancy of the disease by the intensity of uptake of 18 F-FDG, since the uptake of this radiopharmaceutical is directly proportional to it. 3,4 The uptake level of 18 F-FDG can be analyzed visually, but should also be measured through the SUV max , an index that is calculated as a rate of tissue radioactivity concentration at time t and the injected dose normalized to body weight, lean body weight or body surface area [SUV bw = C PET (t)/(Injected dose/patient's weight)]. 5 It also allows the assessment of treatment response by analyzing the reduction of 18 F-FDG tumor uptake.…”

“…5 It also allows the assessment of treatment response by analyzing the reduction of 18 F-FDG tumor uptake. 3,4 The lower degree of 18 F-FDG uptake after two cycles of chemotherapy suggests good response to treatment. In this situation, the patient is considered as having a better prognosis and lower rate of recurrence in comparison to those that show persistent uptake of 18 F-FDG in the lesions.…”

“…3 18 F-FDG PET is also performed after completion of chemotherapy to evaluate the final treatment response and/or to differentiate between viable tumor and fibrotic tissue. 3,4 The disappearance of 18 F-FDG activity in tumor tissue is an indicator of absence of disease, and additional examinations are not required. 3 Thus, this is the main difference between this method compared to others and is well demonstrated in the case described in this report.…”