Incidental Metastatic Melanoma Identified on 18F-FDOPA PET/CT With Confirmation by Histology

A 47-year-old woman with a history of surgically treated abdominal paraganglioma and left thigh melanoma underwent an 18F-FDOPA PET/CT for suspected locoregional recurrence of paraganglioma. 18F-FDOPA PET/CT disconfirmed this recurrence but revealed 2 FDOPA-avid left inguinal lymph nodes, confirmed on a subsequent 18F-FDG PET/CT. Excision and pathology characterized these lymph nodes as melanoma metastases. 18F-FDOPA PET/CT is a widely used and valuable tool in the assessment of paraganglioma, both for staging and recurrence detection. Uptake of FDOPA has only rarely been documented in metastatic melanoma that could be a pitfall for detecting neuroendocrine tumors.
Source: Clinical Nuclear Medicine - Category: Nuclear Medicine Tags: Interesting Images Source Type: research