Unilateral Brown Fat Suppression on FDG PET/CT-detecting Sympathetic Denervation

Indian J Nucl Med. 2018 Apr-Jun;33(2):167-168. doi: 10.4103/ijnm.IJNM_166_17.

Abstract

We present here a case of primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) who initially presented with involvement of the right 3rd rib and underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy, rib excision, and adjuvant chemoradiotherapy and later underwent posterolateral thoracotomy, pleural nodule excision, and the right 11th rib metastatic lesion excision. Follow-up 18F-FDG PET/CT/computed tomography revealed unilateral brown fat suppression in the form of decreased metabolic uptake in the ipsilateral cervical, axillary, and paravertebral brown fat as compared to metabolically active contralateral brown fat, likely due to paravertebral sympathetic chain damage.

Keywords: 2-deoxy-2-(fluorine-18) fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography; brown fat; sympathetic chain; unilateral.