gallium-ga-68-dotatate and Pleural-Effusion

Talc pleurodesis (TP) is a technique, widely employed in the management of patients with persistent pleural effusions or pneumothoraces not amenable to other treatment options. It is well documented that talc deposits produce areas of highly increased F-FDG uptake, because of talc-induced inflammation. We present a case of a patient with history of TP who was evaluated with both F-FDG and Ga-DOTA-TATE. The hypermetabolic area seen on F-FDG-PET-CT in the region of talc placement showed no uptake by Ga-DOTA-TATE, suggesting the potential role of Ga-DOTA-TATE-PET-CT in elucidating F-FDG-postitive lesions in patients with history of both neuroendocrine malignancy and TP.

Topics: Female; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; Humans; Middle Aged; Multimodal Imaging; Organometallic Compounds; Pleural Effusion; Pleurodesis; Positron-Emission Tomography; Radiopharmaceuticals; Talc; Tomography, X-Ray Computed