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A Consistently Elevated Pineal Gland Uptake of 18F-MFBG as a Physiological Normal Variant
Keyu Zhang1, Xiaoya Wang1, Bingyan Zhang1
1Department of Nuclear Medicine, Beijing Friendship Hospital of Capital Medical University.
Abstract:
A 3-year-old girl with high-risk neuroblastoma underwent 18F-MFBG PET/CT for therapy response evaluation as part of a clinical trial. The scan revealed focal increased uptake in the pineal gland, which was also observed on a concurrent 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT. Brain MRI showed no signs of metastasis, and importantly, follow-up 18F-MFBG PET/CT demonstrated consistently elevated uptake in the same region without interval change. These combined findings, negative MRI, concordant physiological 68Ga-DOTATATE uptake, and stable appearance on serial 18F-MFBG PET/CT, support the interpretation of this pineal gland activity as a physiological normal variant rather than a pathologic lesion.

