A Case of Primary Pulmonary Artery Sarcoma Mimicking Pulmonary Embolism: Role of PET/CT for Differential Diagnosis.

Lim, Sang Soo; Hong, Koo Hyun; Shin, Jae Min; Kim, Youn Seup; Jee, Young Koo; Myoung, Na Hye; Park, Seok Gun; Park, Jae Seuk

doi:2007.62.3.232

Tuberc Respir Dis > Volume 62(3); 2007 > Article

Case Report

Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases 2007;62(3):232-236.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4046/trd.2007.62.3.232 Published online March 1, 2007.

A Case of Primary Pulmonary Artery Sarcoma Mimicking Pulmonary Embolism: Role of PET/CT for Differential Diagnosis.

Sang Soo Lim, Koo Hyun Hong, Jae Min Shin, Youn Seup Kim, Young Koo Jee, Na Hye Myoung, Seok Gun Park, Jae Seuk Park

¹Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Dankook University, Chonan, Korea. jspark@dankook.ac.kr
²Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Dankook University, Chonan, Korea.
³Department ofNuclear Medicine, College of Medicine, Dankook University, Chonan, Korea.

Abstract

Primary pulmonary artery sarcoma is a rare malignant tumor arising from the pulmonary artery. Diagnosis of primary pulmonary artery sarcoma is quite difficult and the conditon is often misdiagnosed as a more common disease, such as a pulmonary embolism. PET can help in diagnosing a pulmonary artery sarcoma due to the increased uptake of 18F-FDG in the area of the tumor. However, the poor anatomic resolution of PET has limited its clinical applications in pulmonary vascular disease. The recently developed PET/CT is the fusion of PET and CT that improves the anatomical resolution of PET. We report a case of a primary pulmonary artery sarcoma mimicking a pulmonary embolism that was diagnosed with PET/CT and confirmed with a surgical resection.

Key Words: PET/CT, Pulmonary artery sarcoma, Embolism