JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MEDICINE, vol.39, no.7, pp.1267-1269, 1998 (SCI-Expanded)
Whole-body PET imaging with F-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) has been shown to be effective in distinguishing benign and malignant pulmonary disease. Mild elevations in FDG uptake with standardized uptake values (SUVs) less than 2.5 have been reported in benign lesions, including pneumonia. We report a case of presumed bacterial pneumonia with markedly elevated FDG uptake in a patient with a concomitant squamous cell carcinoma in the contralateral lung. SUV's were similar for both lesions (4.9 and 5.4), This case demonstrates an inflammatory etiology for false-positive FDG PET imaging in the evaluation of focal pulmonary abnormalities.