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The ‘double pituitary hot spot’ sign of skull base meningioma on gallium‐68‐labelled somatostatin analogue PET
Author(s) -
Law W Phillip,
Fiumara Frank,
Fong William,
Macfarlane David J
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of medical imaging and radiation oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.31
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1754-9485
pISSN - 1754-9477
DOI - 10.1111/1754-9485.12069
Subject(s) - medicine , somatostatin , meningioma , somatostatin receptor , nuclear medicine , skull , octreotide , positron emission tomography , somatostatin analogue , neuroendocrine tumors , radiology , pathology , endocrinology , anatomy
Summary Gallium‐68 ( 68 Ga )‐labelled somatostatin analogue imaging by positron emission tomography ( PET ) is increasingly replacing single photon (such as 111 I n‐labelled octreotide) imaging in the detection and staging of carcinoid and other neuroendocrine tumours. Among other tissues, pituitary uptake of 1,4,7,10‐tetraazacyclododecane‐1,4,7,10‐tetraacetic acid‐octreotate ( DOTA‐TATE ) and other somatostatin analogues is physiological. DOTA‐TATE also accumulates in meningiomas, which have a high density of somatostatin receptor expression. The combination of pituitary and skull base meningioma uptake results in a characteristic ‘double hot spot’ appearance, which indicates the presence of a meningioma. This is a case of a middle‐aged woman who underwent 68 Ga ‐ DOTA‐TATE PET for confirmation and staging of clinically suspected carcinoid tumour, in whom a skull base meningioma was incidentally discovered. With the increasing use of PET in the management of neuroendocrine tumours – and the not infrequent occurrence of meningiomas – the appearance of meningiomas on somatostatin analogue imaging should be one with which reporting clinicians are familiar.