Open AccessIsolated fluorodeoxyglucose avid right pleural deposits/effusion on an F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography in patients with ovarian cancer – Are they almost certainly metastatic? An extrapolation of atypical meigs' syndrome
Author(s) -
Ramalingam Senthil,
Arun Visakh Ramachandran Nair,
Thara Pratap,
Chitrathara Kesavan
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
indian journal of nuclear medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.261
H-Index - 13
eISSN - 0972-3919
pISSN - 0974-0244
DOI - 10.4103/ijnm.ijnm_102_18
Subject(s) - medicine , ascites , pleural effusion , ovarian cancer , radiology , positron emission tomography , fluorodeoxyglucose , meigs' syndrome , effusion , ovarian carcinoma , ovary , cancer , surgery
Majority of ovarian cancer (OC) patients are usually diagnosed at advanced stage and present with peritoneal spread/ascites. Some patients develop pleural deposits/effusion secondary to transdiaphragmatic spread of peritoneal disease/ascites. However, pleural deposits/effusion from OC in the absence of peritoneal disease/ascites are very rare. We present a case of serous carcinoma of the left ovary with fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) avid right pleural deposits and effusion in the absence of peritoneal disease/ascites on FDG positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT), showing excellent response to chemotherapy in subsequent PET/CT. We also discuss the pathophysiology of pleural abnormalities in patients with ovarian diseases, a characteristic disease spread pattern and recognition of which would help in the imaging interpretation.