Utility Of Pet In Benign Thoracic Disorders

Abstract

Abstract18F-FDG is a measure of glucose metabolism used in PET imaging. FDG-PET and PET/CT are the most important modalities in tumor imaging. They are used in the differentiation of benign from malignant lesions, staging of malignant lesions, assessment of treatment response, and follow-up of patients after therapy. However, several benign conditions can show increased FDG accumulation and therefore show false-positive results for malignancy. These can be broadly categorized as infectious disorders (mycobacterial, fungal, and bacterial infection), active granulomatous disease (such as sarcoidosis), and other non-infectious inflammatory conditions (e.g., radiation pneumonitis, post-lung transplant lymphoproliferative processes, occupational pleuropulmonary complications, and post-surgical conditions). All these benign conditions can demonstrate varying degrees of FDG uptake on PET and PET/CT on account of a reactive inflammatory response. It is proposed that overexpression of glucose transporters in inflammatory cells such as activated macrophages, neutrophils, and lymphocytes at the site of inflammation or infection is responsible for the accumulation of FDG. On the other hand, these conditions can be used for exploring the potential utility of FDG-PET; PET/CT can be useful in the evaluation of benign thoracic disorders, such as diagnosis of the disease, identifying potential diagnostic biopsy sites, and detecting disease in unsuspected anatomic locations, as well as have a role in monitoring the therapeutic response.