Diagnosis of Bilateral Tonsil Cancers via Staging PETCT : Case Report and Review

Abstract EN

Diagnostic workup of metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma of unknown primary site has traditionally included CT and/or MRI imaging and endoscopic biopsies.

Routine bilateral tonsillectomy is highly controversial and the role of PET/CT is evolving, both for identification of potential primary sites and the detection of distant metastases.

We report a case of cervical nodal metastasis of squamous cell carcinoma from an unknown primary site, in which dual-modality PET/CT led to the unexpected diagnosis of synchronous bilateral tonsillar cancers.

In addition, PET/CT correctly distinguished pulmonary sarcoidosis from metastatic disease in this patient.