Correlation of Tissue Biopsy and Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology with Positron Emission Tomography Results

Abstract EN

F-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans are positive in any condition which increases metabolism in a mass or tissue and are therefore not specific for neoplastic conditions.

The use of an SUV cutoff value of 2.5 may not always help discriminate between benign and malignant cases.

For a practicing cytopathologist doing adequacy checks during an image-guided procedure, it may be of value to be aware that elevated SUV values are not always indicative of a malignant process, and vice versa.