Background: Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of
cancer-related mortality worldwide. Pulmonary nodules are
commonly encountered in clinical practice because of the
recent implementation of low-dose CT lung screening
programme, incidental finding on cardiac CT or CT for nonthoracic related disease. 18
F-FDG PET-CT plays an important
role in the management of pulmonary nodules.
Methods: In this pictorial review, we present six different
scenarios of using 18
F-FDG PET-CT in the management of
suspicious pulmonary nodule or mass. The advantages and
limitations of 18
F-FDG PET-CT and Herder model are
discussed.
Results: 18
F-FDG PET-CT with risk assessment using Herder
model provides added value in characterising indeterminate
pulmonary nodules. Besides, 18
F-FDG PET-CT is valuable to
guide the site of biopsy and provide accurate staging of lung
cancer.
Conclusion: To further improve its diagnostic accuracy,
careful history taking, and CT morphological evaluation
should be taken into consideration when interpreting 18FFDG PET-CT findings in patients with these nodules.