Fluorine-18-Fluorodeoxyglucose Uptake in Rheumatoid Arthritis-Associated Lung Disease in a Patient with Thyroid Cancer

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Fluorine-18-Fluorodeoxyglucose Uptake in Rheumatoid Arthritis-Associated Lung Disease in a Patient with Thyroid Cancer
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Siema M.B. Bakheet and John Powe
Department of Radiology, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Correspondence: For correspondence or reprints contact: Siema M.B. Bakheet, MD, Nuclear Medicine, Department of Radiology (MBC #28), King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, P.O. Box 3354, Riyadh 11211, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

ABSTRACT

An 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) whole-body PET scan was performed on a thyroid cancer patient with long-standing rheumatoid arthritis who presented with pulmonary nodules. A recent diagnostic radioiodine whole-body scan was negative. However, the 18F-FDG scan demonstrated intense uptake in the chest lesions as well as in several joints affected by rheumatoid arthritis. Fine-needle aspiration of a pulmonary nodule revealed inflammatory reaction and absence of malignant cells, fungus and tuberculous infection. A repeat chest CT scan after 7 mo of steroid therapy showed a marked decrease in the size and number of nodules. In thyroid cancer patients, 18F-FDG uptake in the lung may not necessarily represent pulmonary metastases. This case illustrates a benign, unrelated pathology namely, rheumatoid arthritis-associated lung disease.


Key Words: fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose • PET • rheumatoid arthritis • thyroid cancer • false-positive results

The Journal of Nuclear Medicine Vol. 39 No. 2 234-236
© 1998 by Society of Nuclear Medicine This Article

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Copyright © 1998 by the Society of Nuclear Medicine.