Wegener’s granulomatosis detected initially by integrated 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography

Vol.20 No.2

Case Report

Wegener’s granulomatosis detected initially by integrated 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography

Authors

Naoyasu Ueda¹ , Yasushi Inoue³ , Daisuke Himeji¹ , Yoshiya Shimao² , Kensuke Oryoji³ , Hiroki Mitoma³ , Yojiro Arinobu³ , Hiroaki Niiro³ , Hiroshi Tsukamoto³ , Takahiko Horiuchi³ , Akira Ueda¹ , Koichi Akashi³

Department of Internal Medicine, Miyazaki Prefectural Miyazaki Hospital, 5-30 Kitatakamatsu-cho, Miyazaki 880-8510, Japan
Department of Pathology, Miyazaki Prefectural Miyazaki Hospital, 5-30 Kitatakamatsu-cho, Miyazaki 880-8510, Japan
Department of Medicine and Biosystemic Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan

Received:

9 July 2009

Accepted:

4 November 2009

Published online:

11 December 2009

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Abstract

Early diagnosis is crucial for effective treatment of Wegener’s granulomatosis, although this disease shows only atypical symptoms in the primary stage. This report describes a patient suspected of having a malignancy based on integrated 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), which showed increased uptake in pulmonary nodules and nasopharyngeal mucosa. Integrated PET/CT is therefore considered to be useful to confirm the distribution and determine the optimal site for biopsy.

Key words

Wegener’s granulomatosis - Integrated 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) - Diagnosis - Nasopharyngeal biopsy