case studies

Cervical Cancer with metastatic spread

Patient History
A fifty four year old female with a history of cervical cancer presented for a routine follow up PET/CT scan at one year.

Methodology
A whole body PET/CT scan was performed with 370 mbqs of FDG. The scan started one hour post injection and included an initial low dose CT scan followed by a whole PET examination. Once completed the CT and PET images were fused to provide both functional and anatomical information in the same data set.

Report
The PET/CT scan shows focal uptake in two sidewall nodes not visualised on the earlier CT examination. There is also a focus of uptake in the para-aortic region on the left hand side at the level of the spline

Conclusion
PET is an important tool in the management and follow up of patients with cancer, this case demonstrates the usefulness of PET in evaluating treatment response and the extent of disease. Though CT alone may miss lesions, as demonstrated in this case, PET and CT combined can often demonstrate lesions not previously seen and improve overall diagnostic capability.

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