Key result
PET/CT successfully differentiated a primary pulmonary artery sarcoma from a pulmonary embolism by demonstrating increased 18F-FDG uptake in the tumor.
Case Report (n=1)
No
PET/CT is a useful imaging modality for differentiating primary pulmonary artery sarcoma from pulmonary embolism by demonstrating increased metabolic activity in the tumor.
May aid differentiation in ambiguous cases; hypothesis-generating case report leaves open need for prospective validation.
Primary pulmonary artery sarcoma is a rare malignant tumor arising from the pulmonary artery. Diagnosis of primary pulmonary artery sarcoma is quite difficult and the conditon is often misdiagnosed as a more common disease, such as a pulmonary embolism. PET can help in diagnosing a pulmonary artery sarcoma due to the increased uptake of 18 F-FDG in the area of the tumor. However, the poor anatomic resolution of PET has limited its clinical applications in pulmonary vascular disease. The recently developed PET/CT is the fusion of PET and CT that improves the anatomical resolution of PET. We report a case of a primary pulmonary artery sarcoma mimicking a pulmonary embolism that was diagnosed with PET/CT and confirmed with a surgical resection.
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Lim et al. (2007) conducted a case report in Primary pulmonary artery sarcoma (n=1). PET/CT was evaluated on Differential diagnosis of pulmonary artery mass. PET/CT successfully differentiated a primary pulmonary artery sarcoma from a pulmonary embolism by demonstrating increased 18F-FDG uptake in the tumor.
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