Fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in the diagnosis of giant cell arteritis. uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • We describe a case in which fludeoxyglucose F 18 positron emission tomography (PET) led directly to the diagnosis of giant cell arteritis in an elderly woman with a fever of unknown origin. The patient presented with a 3-month history of fatigue, fever, headache, visual disturbance, jaw claudication, and anemia. A computed tomographic scan showed an anterior mediastinal mass that was suspected of being malignant. A fludeoxyglucose F 18 PET scan performed for preoperative evaluation identified striking uptake of fludeoxyglucose F 18 in the walls of the entire aorta, left main coronary artery, and subclavian, carotid, and common iliac arteries bilaterally, suggestive of an arteritis, a diagnosis subsequently confirmed by the findings of an arterial biopsy. Her erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 129 mm/h. There was normalizaton of the PET scan 2 weeks following treatment with prednisolone. This case suggests that fludeoxyglucose F 18 PET contributes to the noninvasive diagnosis of giant cell arteritis, as well as to the evaluation of the extent of disease, response to therapy, and disease recurrence.

publication date

  • April 9, 2001

Research

keywords

  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
  • Giant Cell Arteritis
  • Radiopharmaceuticals
  • Tomography, Emission-Computed

Identity

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 0035832046

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1001/archinte.161.7.1003

PubMed ID

  • 11295964

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 161

issue

  • 7