Conventional 18 F-FDG PET/CT imaging in the supine position may compress breast tissue, leading to suboptimal visualization of small or deep lesions due to overlap with the chest wall. Pendant-breast imaging allows natural separation of breast tissue and may improve lesion conspicuity. This case series evaluates the diagnostic impact of dual-point pendant-breast PET/CT imaging in five patients with histopathologically confirmed breast carcinoma. All patients underwent standard supine whole-body PET/CT followed by regional pendant-breast imaging using an improvised support device. Pendant imaging improved lesion localization and nodal detection in all cases, particularly in dense breasts. Two patients were upstaged due to additional nodal findings. A modest increase in SUVmax (12–18%) was observed, likely related to delayed imaging. Pendant-breast PET/CT may serve as a useful adjunct in selected cases, particularly in equivocal or dense breast scenarios, to improve staging accuracy and treatment planning.
Jain et al. (2026) studied this question.