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A 66-year-old woman presents with progressive bilateral swelling of her fingers, elbows, and toes. Initially thought to represent an inflammatory peripheral arthropathy, the patient underwent rheumatology review, but subsequent tissue biopsy confirmed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Results of bone marrow biopsy and staging CT were negative. F-FDG PET/CT demonstrates FDG-avid bony and adjacent soft tissue disease limited to the extremities with an excellent metabolic response to primary chemotherapy. This is a rare case of primary bone lymphoma limited to the extremities mimicking an inflammatory peripheral arthropathy.

Aim: To evaluate the impact of staging FDG PET-CT on the initial management of patients with locally advanced cervical carcinoma (LACC) and any prognostic variables predicting survival., Materials and Methods: Retrospective analysis of consecutive patients undergoing FDG PET-CT for staging of LACC in a single tertiary referral centre, between April 2008 and August 2011. Comparison was made between MRI and PET-CT findings and any subsequent impact on treatment intent or radiotherapy planning was evaluated., Results: Sixty-three patients underwent FDG PET-CT for initial staging of LACC. Major impact on management was found in 20 patients (32%), a minor impact in five (8%), and no impact in 38 (60%). In those patients where PET-CT had a major impact, 12 had more extensive local nodal involvement, five had occult metastatic disease, two had synchronous tumours, and one patient had equivocal lymph nodes on MRI characterized as negative. PET-positive nodal status at diagnosis was found to be a statistically significant predictor of relapse-free survival (p < 0.05)., Conclusion: Staging FDG PET-CT has a major impact on the initial management of approximately one-third of patients with LACC by altering treatment intent and/or radiotherapy planning. PET-defined nodal status is a poor prognostic indicator., (Copyright © 2014 The Royal College of Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of recombinant thyroid-stimulating hormone (rTSH)-stimulated 2-(18-fluoride)-flu-2-deoxy-D-glucose ((18)F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)-CT in detecting recurrence in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer., Methods: Consecutive (18)F-FDG PET-CT scans performed with rTSH stimulation between 2007 and 2010 in patients with a history of papillary or follicular thyroid carcinoma were reviewed. PET-CT findings were correlated with thyroglobulin levels, and histological, clinical and radiological follow-up., Results: 58 rTSH PET-CT scans were performed in 47 patients with a previous thyroidectomy and radioiodine ablation. The only indication for PET-CT was a raised thyroglobulin level in 46 of 58 scans, with the remainder for characterisation of equivocal radiology or staging. 25 (43%) of PET-CT scans were positive for recurrent disease. Histological correlation was available for 21 (36%) scans. The overall sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 69%, 76%, 72% and 73%, respectively. Median unstimulated thyroglobulin in true-positive scans was 33 µg l(-1) and 2.2 µg l(-1) in the remainder (p=0.12). 4 of 35 (11%) patients with unstimulated thyroglobulin levels <10 µg l(-1) had true-positive scans. Median stimulated thyroglobulin in true-positive scans was 320 µg l(-1), and 10 µg l(-1) in the remainder (p=0.046), with no positive scans with a stimulated thyroglobulin <8 µg l(-1). PET-CT directly influenced patient management in 17/58 (29%) scans., Conclusion: rTSH PET-CT is a useful imaging technique for detecting disease recurrence in patients with iodine-resistant differentiated thyroid cancer. Low stimulated thyroglobulin levels are potentially useful in identifying patients unlikely to benefit from a PET-CT scan.

The emergence of hybrid imaging, combining anatomical computed tomography (CT) and functional single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), has greatly expanded the armoury available to image disease. Integrated SPECT-CT is a dual-modality technique, which improves the sensitivity and specificity of existing radionuclide studies and enables characterization of equivocal findings detected by conventional imaging. There is a wide range of established and emerging clinical applications for SPECT-CT, which were reviewed in detail at a symposium organized by the British Institute of Radiology in March 2012. A series of articles were commissioned as an adjunct to the symposium and to raise awareness of the clinical utility of this technique. The focus of this article is on less commonly used and emerging clinical applications of hybrid SPECT-CT in a spectrum of benign and malignant conditions. The article will illustrate the incremental value of the technique in a variety of clinical applications.