Disseminated tuberculosis infection : a super 18F-FDG PET/CT appearance.

• Main Authors: Nordin, Abdul Jalil, Rossetti, Claudio, Abdul Rahim, Noraini
• Format: Article
• Language: English; English
• Published: Springer Verlag 2009
• Online Access: http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/14099/1/Disseminated%20tuberculosis%20infection.pdf; http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/14099/

A 28-year-old immigrant presented with a 2-week history of throbbing headache. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) examination showed multiple brain abscesses. He is a known defaulter from miliary tuberculosis treatment. 18F-FDG PET/CT demonstrated multiple visually high metabolic activity lesions disseminated in the brain, thorax, abdomen and pelvis [1]. The maximum standard uptake values (SUVmax) of these lesions were substantially > 3.0 and comparable to the uptake of FDG-avid malignant lesions. These findings demand careful image interpretation implicating false-positive results [2, 3]. Our case illustrates the usefulness of 18F-FDG PET/CT in mapping active tuberculous lesions which can be used for baseline study [4].