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Reduced F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose uptake within marrow after external beam radiation
1Department of Neurology, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia 65212, USA. MeyerMA@health.missouri.edu
Purpose:
The authors examined the delayed effects of external beam radiation on the metabolism of intravertebral marrow cavities.
Materials And Methods:
Two neurologically normal persons who had completed a full course of external beam radiotherapy for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck had positron emission tomography (PET) scans with F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) to identify residual neoplasm.
Results:
Abnormally low uptake of F-18 FDG was noted within the central marrow cavities of the cervical vertebral bodies in both cases.
Conclusions:
Diminished metabolic activity within irradiated marrow can be revealed by F-18 FDG PET imaging techniques. Further correlative MRI PET studies are needed to determine if this postradiation phenomenon is related to fatty infiltration of the marrow cavity.