Depiction of celiac ganglia on positron emission tomography and computed tomography in patients with lung cancer

Abstract

Objective: To differentiate imaging characteristics of celiac ganglia from metastatic lesion on positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) in patients with lung cancer and correlate these findings to postmortem multidetector row computed tomography (MDCT).

Methods: One hundred twenty-nine patients were included. Imaging characteristics and fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) avidity of the celiac ganglia were recorded. Postmortem MDCT of 20 subjects were reviewed.

Results: Celiac ganglia were identified unilaterally in 127 and bilaterally in 108 patients without abnormal FDG uptake. Postmortem images showed celiac ganglia in all cases with no significant difference compared to our patients.

Conclusions: Familiarity with CT characteristics and FDG-avidity of celiac ganglia enable us to distinguish them from metastatic lesions in their vicinity.

Keywords: CT; Celiac ganglia; Lung cancer; PET-CT; Postmortem MDCT.