Usefulness of Choline-PET for the detection of residual hemangiopericytoma in the skull base: Comparison with FDG-PET

Abstract

Background: Choline is a new PET tracer that is useful for the detection of malignant tumor. Choline is a precursor of the biosynthesis of phosphatidylcholine, a major phospholipid in the cell membrane of eukaryotic cells. Malignant tumors have an elevated level of phosphatidylcholine in cell membrane. Thus, choline is a marker of tumor malignancy.Method: The patient was a 51-year-old man with repeated recurrent hemangiopericytoma in the skull base. We performed Choline-PET in this patient after various treatments and compared findings with those of FDG-PET.Results: Choline accumulated in this tumor, but FDG did not accumulate. We diagnosed this tumor as residual hemangiopericytoma and performed the resection of the residual tumor. FDG-PET is not appropriate for skull base tumor detection because uptake in the brain is very strong.Conclusion: We emphasize the usefulness of Choline-PET for the detection of residual hemangiopericytoma in the skull base after various treatments, compared with FDG-PET. © 2012 Yokoyama et al; BioMed Central Ltd.