PET / CT Case Studies
Case #1
A woman with a history of breast cancer was having chest pain, and underwent a PET/CT. The study found recurrent tumor in a lymph node next to the breast bone, but no other sites of disease. The patient had this node surgically removed, and the area was treated with radiation afterwards.
Case #2
A man who had a melanoma removed from the neck had a PET/CT scan to see if the tumor had spread. The scan showed minimal activity where the surgery had taken place (arrow), but also showed four abnormalities in the abdomen (circle). On the PET/CT images, the abnormalities were found to be in the bowel. The patient subsequently underwent surgery and had the tumors removed.
Case #3
This patient has a typical pattern of Alzheimer's Disease on a PET scan of the brain. Areas of bright orange are normal. Areas that have less orange or yellow indicate reduced metabolism or poorly functioning brain tissue.
