[Differential diagnosis of neck swelling due to suspected metastasis using positron emission tomography]

A noninvasive diagnostic method for the evaluation of a suspicious mass in the neck can be of great value for further diagnostic approach. The differing metabolic activity of malignant and benign tumors offers the possibility to determine the status of a lesion by the quantitative evaluation of the glucose uptake by positron emission tomography (PET). The diagnostic relevance of the metabolic activity has been shown earlier in more than 50 malignant tumors of the head and neck (Reisser et al., HNO 40 [1992] 225-231). The present study demonstrates the determination of tumor status in two benign and two malignant tumors of the neck by PET. Quantitative evaluation of the glucose uptake revealed significantly higher values in malignant than in benign lesions. Therefore the determination of the glucose metabolism prior to the indispensable histological diagnosis of the status of a lesion can provide valuable hints for the further diagnostic and therapeutic approach to the lesion.