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Updated: Jul 13, 2026
High-Resolution Cardiac Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography for Small Animals
Published on: December 16, 2022
Case report: PET/CT, a cautionary tale
Jayson Wang1, Gary Cook, John Frank
1Department of Medical Oncology, Imperial College School of Medicine, Charing Cross Hospital, London, UK. jwang@hhnt.nhs.uk <jwang@hhnt.nhs.uk>
Background:
The use of combined positron emission tomography/computerised tomography (PET/CT) scanners in oncology has been shown to improve the staging of tumours and the detection of relapses. However, mis-registration errors are increasingly recognised to be a common pitfall of PET/CT studies.
Case Presentation:
We report a patient with a germ cell tumour of the testis, who underwent a PET/CT scan to detect the site of relapse with a view to surgical removal. However, the PET/CT scan mislocalised the tumour site to be within the T2 vertebral body. A subsequent endoscopic ultrasound scan however showed the tumour to be anterior to the vertebral body, which was confirmed at surgery.
Conclusion:
In this report, we highlight the artefactual mislocalisation errors which may occur with PET/CT imaging, and the need to review and verify these scans.
