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High
F-18 FDG uptake in a low-grade supratentorial ganglioma: a positron
emission tomography case report
Meyer
PT, Spetzger U, Mueller HD, Zeggel T, Sabri O, Schreckenberger M
Department
of Nuclear Medicine, Aachen University of Technology, Germany.
philipptobias.meyer@post.rwth-aachen.de
Purpose. Positron emission tomography (PET) with
fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (F-18 FDG) is used for the noninvasive
monitoring and grading of primary brain tumors.
Here the FDG uptake is positively correlated with the malignant extent
of the lesion and thereby negatively correlated with patient
survival.
Little is known about the FDG PET features of primary brain tumors in
children, such as mixed neuronal-glial tumors.
Methods.
The authors describe a 13-year-old boy who had partial complex
seizures since early childhood caused by a brain tumor in the left
temporal lobe.
Results.
Magnetic resonance and computed tomographic examinations yielded
uncharacteristic results: mixed density, marked calcifications, little
contrast enhancement, a nearly absent mass effect, and no edema.
The FDG PET scan revealed a large hypermetabolic tumor, with a tumor:
contralateral gray matter FDG uptake ratio of 1.45.
In contrast to this intense hypermetabolism, the pathologic analysis
after gross total resection revealed a low-grade ganglioglioma (WHO
grade 1), which is usually associated with an excellent
prognosis.
Conclusions.
Mixed neuronal-glial tumors such as gangliogliomas must be considered
in making differential diagnoses by judging hypermetabolic FDG PET
scans in young patients with brain tumors in the presence of
uncharacteristic imaging features.
PMID: 10983756 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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