(68)Ga-DOTATATE-positron emission tomography imaging in spinal meningioma

Imaging with positron emission tomography (PET) and (68)Ga-DOTA peptides is a promising method in intracranial meningiomas. Especially in recurrent meningioma discrimination between scar tissue and recurrent tumor tissue in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is often difficult. We report the first case of (68)Ga-DOTATATE-PET/computed tomography (PET/CT) imaging in recurrent spinal meningioma. A 64-year-old Caucasian female patient was referred to our department with the second recurrence of thoracic meningothelial meningioma. In MRI, it remained unclear if the multiple enhancements seen represented scar tissue or vital tumor. We offered (68)Ga-DOTATATE-PET/CT imaging in order to evaluate the best strategy. (68)Ga-DOTATATE-PET/CT imaging revealed strong tracer uptake in parts of the lesions. The pattern did distinctly differ from MRI enhancement. Multiple biopsies were performed in the PET-positive and PET-negative regions. Histological results confirmed the prediction of (68)Ga-DOTATATE-PET with vital tumor in PET-positive regions and scar tissue in PET-negative regions. Differentiating scar tissue from tumor can be challenging in recurrent spinal meningioma with MRI alone. In the presented case, (68)Ga-DOTATATE-PET imaging was able to differentiate noninvasively between tumor and scar.