Aged ; Female ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18/therapeutic use ; Head and Neck Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging* ; Head and Neck Neoplasms/pathology ; Head and Neck Neoplasms/surgery ; Humans ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Radiopharmaceuticals/therapeutic use ; Scalp* ; Skin Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging* ; Skin Neoplasms/pathology ; Skin Neoplasms/surgery ; Tomography, Emission-Computed*
Keywords
12859393
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Whole-body 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (18F-FDG-PET) was introduced in 1990s, and its efficacy for cerebral mapping and for selective detection of various malignancies is now being recognized.
OBJECTIVE:
To report on the usefulness of whole-body 18F-FDG-PET for detecting a metastatic lesion in a rare case of malignant proliferating trichilemmal tumor.
METHODS:
A malignant proliferating trichilemmal tumor on the occipital scalp of a 69-year-old female recurred on the margin of the surgical scar after an initial wide excision, and it was removed by Mohs micrographic surgery. 18F-FDG-PET was done to detect any remaining tumor tissue, and it showed a hot uptake on the lower left occipital area, where a pea-sized nodule formed 2 months later. Dissection and wide excision of the nodule showed metastatic malignant proliferating trichilemmal tumor cells in the lymph nodes.
RESULTS:
We were able to take advantage of the high resolution of the 18F-FDG-PET in detecting a metastatic lesion despite its proximity to the central nervous system.
CONCLUSION:
The 18F-FDG-PET can be used in future malignant proliferating trichilemmal tumor cases to study the metastatic characteristics of this rare tumor.