Imaging plaque inflammation in asymptomatic cocaine addicted individuals with simultaneous positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging

BACKGROUND Chronic cocaine use is associated with stroke, coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction, resulting in severe impairments or sudden mortality. In the absence of clear cardiovascular symptoms, individuals with cocaine use disorder (iCUD) seeking addiction treatment receive mostly psychotherapy and psychiatric pharmacotherapy, with no attention to vascular disease (i.e., atherosclerosis). Little is known about the pre-clinical signs of cardiovascular risk in iCUD and early signs of vascular disease are undetected in this underserved population. AIM To assess inflammation, plaque burden and plaque composition in iCUD aiming to detect markers of atherosclerosis and vascular disease. METHODS The bilateral carotid arteries were imaged with positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI) in iCUD asymptomatic for cardiovascular disease, healthy controls, and individuals with cardiovascular risk. PET with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) evaluated vascular inflammation and 3-D dark-blood MRI assessed plaque burden including wall area and thickness. Drug use and severity of addiction were assessed with standardized instruments. RESULTS The majority of iCUD and controls had carotid FDG-PET signal greater than 1.6 but lower than 3, indicating the presence of mild to moderate inflammation. However, the MRI measure of wall structure was thicker in iCUD as compared to the controls and cardiovascular risk group, indicating greater carotid plaque burden. iCUD had larger wall area as compared to the healthy controls but not as compared to the cardiovascular risk group, indicating structural wall similarities between the non-control study groups. In iCUD, wall area correlated with greater cocaine withdrawal and craving. CONCLUSION These preliminary results show markers of carotid artery disease burden in cardiovascular disease-asymptomatic iCUD. Broader trials are warranted to develop protocols for early detection of cardiovascular risk and preventive intervention in iCUD.

Serial Brain Positron Emission Tomography Fused to Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Post-Infectious and Autoantibody-Associated Autoimmune Encephalitis

Serial positron emission tomography fused to magnetic resonance imaging showed progression of GAD65 autoimmune encephalitis.

Positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging combined with computed tomography in tumor volume delineation: A case report

BACKGROUND Accurate delineation of the target area for patients with hypopharyngeal cancer is the key to achieving an ideal radiotherapy effect.Since computed tomography(CT)alone can no longer meet the treatment needs,fusing CT images with magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)or positron emission tomography(PET)images can overcome the disadvantages of CT.Herein,we present a clinical case of hypopharyngeal cancer to delineate the tumor volume using combined MRI-CT and PET-CT fusion images to examine if they could accurately cover the tumor volume.CASE SUMMARY A 67-year-old male patient with hypopharyngeal carcinoma could not tolerate chemotherapy and surgery due to complicated health issues such as diabetic nephropathy and other underlying diseases.After multidisciplinary consultations,clinicians eventually agreed to undergo radiotherapy to control the progression of his tumor.He was examined by CT,MRI,and 18-fluorodeoxyglucose-PET for treatment planning,and CT images were fused with PET and MRI images while delineating tumor volume.CONCLUSION The image fusion of MRI-CT and PET-CT has both advantages and disadvantages.Compared with CT images alone,the combination of MRI-CT and PET-CT fusion images can precisely cover the gross tumor volume in hypopharyngeal carcinoma and avoid overestimation or incomplete coverage of tumor volume.

Computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and Fdeoxyglucose positron emission computed tomography/computed tomography findings of alveolar soft part sarcoma with calcification in the thigh: A case report

BACKGROUND Alveolar soft part sarcoma(ASPS)is an extremely rare malignant sarcoma,accounting for less than 1%of all soft-tissue sarcomas.However,limited information is available on multimodal imaging[computed tomography(CT),magnetic resonance imaging(MRI),and positron emission computed tomography/computed tomography(PET/CT)]of ASPS.CASE SUMMARY This study reports a case of a 35-year-old female patient with ASPS of the left thigh with lung metastasis.The patient presented with a 1-year history of a palpable mass in the lower extremity,which exhibited rapid growth for 3 wk.CT,MRI,and F-deoxyglucose PET/CT examinations were performed.CT showed a slightly hypodense or isodense mass with patchy calcifications.On MRI examination,the mass manifested hyperintensity on T1-weighted,T2-weighted,and diffusion-weighted images with some signal voids.PET/CT images demonstrated an intensely hypermetabolic mass in the left thigh and hypermetabolic nodules in lungs.CONCLUSION ASPS should be considered as a possible diagnosis when a slow-growing mass is detected in the soft tissue of the extremities,with hyperintensity and numerous signal voids on T1-weighted,T2-weighted,and diffusion-weighted images and intense F-deoxyglucose uptake on PET/CT.ASPS can have calcifications on CT.

Utility of positron emission tomography-magnetic resonance imaging in musculoskeletal imaging

Differentiation between neoplastic and nonneoplastic conditions magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) has established itself as one of the key clinical tools in evaluation of musculoskeletal pathology. However, MRI still has several key limitations which require supplemental information from additional modalities to complete evaluation of various disorders. This has led to the development hybrid positron emission tomography(PET)-MRI which is rapidly evolving to address key clinical questions by using the morphological strengths of MRI and functional information of PET imaging. In this article, we aim to review physical principles and techniques of PET-MRI and discuss clinical utility of functional information obtained from PET imaging and structural information obtained from MRI imaging for the evaluation of musculoskeletal pathology. More specifically, this review highlights the role of PET-MRI in musculoskeletal oncology including initial diagnosis and staging, treatment planning and posttreatment follow-up. Also we will review utility of PET-MRI in evaluating musculoskeletal infections(especially in the immunocompromised and diabetics) and inflammatory condition. Additionally, common pitfalls of PET-MRI will be addressed.

Simultaneous whole body ^(18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography magnetic resonance imaging for evaluation of pediatric cancer: Preliminary experience and comparison with ^(18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography computed tomogra

AIM: To describe our preliminary experience with simultaneous whole body ^(18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose(^(18)F-FDG)positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging(PET-MRI) in the evaluation of pediatric oncology patients.METHODS: This prospective, observational, singlecenter study was Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant, and institutional review board approved. To be eligible, a patient was required to:(1) have a known or suspected cancer diagnosis;(2) be under the care of a pediatric hematologist/oncologist; and(3) be scheduled for clinically indicated ^(18)F-FDG PETCT examination at our institution. Patients underwent PET-CT followed by PET-MRI on the same day. PET-CT examinations were performed using standard department protocols. PET-MRI studies were acquired with an integrated 3 Tesla PET-MRI scanner using whole body T1 Dixon, T2 HASTE, EPI diffusion-weighted imaging(DWI) and STIR sequences. No additional radiotracer was given for the PET-MRI examination. Both PET-CT and PETMRI examinations were reviewed by consensus by two study personnel. Test performance characteristics of PETMRI, for the detection of malignant lesions, including FDG maximum standardized uptake value(SUVmax) and minimum apparent diffusion coefficient(ADCmin), were calculated on a per lesion basis using PET-CT as a reference standard.RESULTS: A total of 10 whole body PET-MRI exams were performed in 7 pediatric oncology patients. The mean patient age was 16.1 years(range 12-19 years) including 6 males and 1 female. A total of 20 malignant and 21 benign lesions were identified on PET-CT. PET-MRI SUVmax had excellent correlation with PET-CT SUVmax for both benign and malignant lesions(R = 0.93). PETMRI SUVmax > 2.5 had 100% accuracy for discriminating benign from malignant lesions using PET-computed tomography(CT) reference. Whole body DWI was also evaluated: the mean ADCmin of malignant lesions(780.2 + 326.6) was significantly lower than that of benign lesions(1246.2 + 417.3; P = 0.0003; Student's t test). A range of ADCmin thresholds for malignancy were evaluated, from 0.5-1.5 × 10^(-3) mm^2/s. The 1.0 × 10^(-3) ADCmin threshold performed best compared with PETCT reference(68.3% accuracy). However, the accuracy of PET-MRI SUVmax was significantly better than ADCmin for detecting malignant lesions compared with PET-CT reference(P < 0.0001; two-tailed Mc Nemar's test).CONCLUSION: These results suggest a clinical role for simultaneous whole body PET-MRI in evaluating pediatric cancer patients.

New frontiers in focal therapy for prostate cancer:Prostate-specific membrane antigen positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging

Imaging has a central role in the context of focal therapy(FT)for prostate cancer(PCa).Prostate-specific membrane antigen(PSMA)positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging(PET/MRI)is a novel imaging modality that combines the morpho-functional information of MRI with the molecular characterization of PET.Some papers reported the potential advantages of PSMA PET/MRI in different clinical scenarios.Limited evidence on PSMA PET/MRI is available in the setting of FT.PSMA PET/MRI can be an effective imaging modality for detecting primary PCa and seems to provide accurate local staging of primary PCa.PSMA PET/MRI also shows high performance for restaging and detecting tumor recurrence.The higher soft-tissue contrast and the reduction of ionizing radiation are the main advantages reported in the literature compared to PET/computed tomography.PSMA PET/MRI could represent a turning point in the management of patients with PCa in the context of FT.Further studies are needed to confirm its applications in this specific clinical setting.

Multimodality imaging using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging and ^(18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography in local prostate cancer

AIM To assess the relationship using multimodality imaging between intermediary citrate/choline metabolism as seen on proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging(1H-MRSI) and glycolysis as observed on ^(18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography(^(18)F-FDG-PET/CT) in prostate cancer(PCa) patients. METHODS The study included 22 patients with local PCa who were referred for endorectal magnetic resonance imaging/1HMRSI(April 2002 to July 2007) and ^(18)F-FDG-PET/CT and then underwent prostatectomy as primary or salvage treatment. Whole-mount step-section pathology was used as the standard of reference. We assessed the relationships between PET parameters [standardized uptake value(SUVmax and SUVmean)] and MRSI parameters [choline + creatine/citrate(CC/Cmax and CC/Cmean) and total number of suspicious voxels] using spearman's rank correlation, and the relationships of PET and 1H-MRSI index lesion parameters to surgical Gleason score.RESULTS Abnormal intermediary metabolism on 1H-MRSI was present in 21/22 patients, while abnormal glycolysis on ^(18)F-FDG-PET/CT was detected in only 3/22 patients. Specifically, index tumor localization rates were 0.95(95%CI: 0.77-1.00) for 1H-MRSI and 0.14(95%CI: 0.03-0.35) for ^(18)F-FDG-PET/CT. Spearman rank correlations indicated little relationship(ρ =-0.36-0.28) between 1H-MRSI parameters and ^(18)F-FDG-PET/CT parameters. Both the total number of suspicious voxels(ρ = 0.55, P = 0.0099) and the SUVmax(ρ = 0.46, P = 0.0366) correlated weakly with the Gleason score. No significant relationship was found between the CC/Cmax, CC/Cmean or SUVmean and the Gleason score(P = 0.15-0.79). CONCLUSION The concentration of intermediary metabolites detected by 1H MRSI and glycolytic flux measured ^(18)F-FDG PET show little correlation. Furthermore, only few tumors were FDG avid on PET, possibly because increased glycolysis represents a late and rather ominous event in the progression of PCa.

ASSESSMENT OF MYOCARDIAL VIABILITY WITH CONTRAST-ENHANCED MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING AND COMPARISON WITH SINGLE-PHOTON EMISSION COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY

Objective To compare contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging （ceMRI） with nuclear metabolic imaging for the assessment of myocardial viability in patients with chronic ischemic heart disease. Methods Twenty patients with suspected chronic ischemic heart disease underwent ceMRI and technetium-99m sestamibi single-photon emission computed tomography （SPECT）. Patients with positive SPECT results also underwent 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose （FDG） SPECT. In a 17-segment model, the segmental extent of hyperenhancement （SEH） by ceMRI was compared with segmental FDG and sestamibi uptake by SPECT. Correlation between the extent of hyperenhancement by ceMRI and left ventricular function was analyzed. Seven patients got negative results both in ceMRI and technetium-99m sestamibi SPECT. The rest 13 patients with positive results then underwent ^18F-FDG SPECT. In 221 segments of 13 patients, SEH was （2. 1±8.2）%, （25.0±13.7 ）%, and （57. 7±23.6 ）% in segments with normal metabolism/perfusion, metabolism/perfusion mismatch, and matched defects, respectively, and there were significant differences between either two of them （ all P 〈 0.05）. By receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the area under the curve was 0. 95 for the differentiation between viable and non-viable segments. At the cutoff value of 34%, SEH optimally differentiated viable from non-viable segments defined by SPECT. Using this threshold, the sensitivity and specificity of ceMRI to detect non-viable myocardium as defined by SPECT were 92% and 93%, respectively. Hyperenhancement size by ceMRI was correlated negatively with the left ventricular ejection fraction （ r = - 0.90, P 〈 0.01 ） and positively with left ventricular volumes （ r = 0. 62 for end-diastolic volume, r = 0.75 for end-systolic volume, both P 〈 0.05 ）. Conclusion CeMRI allows assessment of myocardial viability with a high accuracy in patients with chronic ischemic heart disease.

Role of advanced magnetic resonance imaging in the assessment of malignancies of the mediastinum

In the new era of functional magnetic resonance imaging(MRI), the utility of chest MRI is increasing exponentially due to several advances, including absence of ionizing radiation, excellent tissue contrast and high capability for lesion characterization and treatment monitoring. The application of several of these diagnostic weapons in a multiparametric fashion enables to better characterize thymic epithelial tumors and other mediastinal tumoral lesions, accurate assessment of the invasion of adjacent structures and detection of pathologic lymph nodes and metastasis. Also, "do not touch lesions" could be identified with the associated impact in the management of those patients. One of the hotspots of the multiparametric chest MR is its ability to detect with acuity early response to treatment in patients with mediastinal malignant neoplasms. This has been related with higher rates of overall survival and progression free survival.Therefore, in this review we will analyze the current functional imaging techniques available(18 F-Fluorodeoxiglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography, diffusion-weighted imaging, dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI, diffusion tensor imaging and MR spectroscopy) for the evaluation of mediastinal lesions, with a focus in their correct acquisition and post-processing. Also, to review the clinical applications of these techniques in the diagnostic approach of benign and malignant conditions of the mediastinum.

Multimodal imaging in the diagnosis of bone giant cell tumors:A retrospective study

BACKGROUND Giant cell tumor of bone is a locally aggressive and rarely metastasizing tumor,and also a potential malignant tumor that may develop into a primary malignant giant cell tumor.AIM To evaluate the role of multimodal imaging in the diagnosis of giant cell tumors of bone.METHODS The data of 32 patients with giant cell tumor of bone confirmed by core-needle biopsy or surgical pathology at our hospital between March 2018 and March 2023 were retrospectively selected.All the patients with giant cell tumors of the bone were examined by X-ray,computed tomography(CT)and magnetic resonance imaging(MRI),and 7 of them were examined by positron emission tomography(PET)-CT.RESULTS X-ray imaging can provide overall information on giant cell tumor lesions.CT and MRI can reveal the characteristics of the internal structure of the tumor as well as the adjacent relationships of the tumor,and these methods have unique advantages for diagnosing tumors and determining the scope of surgery.PET-CT can detect small lesions and is highly valuable for identifying benign and malignant tumors to aid in the early diagnosis of metastasis.CONCLUSION Multimodal imaging plays an important role in the diagnosis of giant cell tumor of bone and can provide a reference for the treatment of giant cell tumors.

Recent Research Advances in Imaging of Prostate Cancer

Imaging study plays a crucial role in the diagnosis of prostate cancer. As early screening and management of prostate cancer has evolved over the past decade, research is now focusing on how to detect clinically significant prostate cancer and avoid overdiagnosis accurately. This article provides an overview of recent advances in imaging in prostate cancer diagnosis, including new ultrasound imaging techniques, positron emission computed tomography, multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging, and emerging areas such as imaging histology, by systematically reviewing and summarizing the existing literature.

Liver metastases:Contrast-enhanced ultrasound compared with computed tomography and magnetic resonance

The development of ultrasound contrast agents with excellent tolerance and safety profiles has notably improved liver evaluation with ultrasound(US)for several applications,especially for the detection of metastases.In particular,contrast enhanced ultrasonography(CEUS)allows the display of the parenchymal microvasculature,enabling the study and visualization of the enhancement patterns of liver lesions in real time and in a continuous manner in all vascular phases,which is similar to contrast-enhanced computed tomography(CT)and contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging.Clinical studies have reported that the use of a contrast agent enables the visualization of more metastases with significantly improved sensitivity and specificity compared to baseline-US.Furthermore,studies have shown that CEUS yields sensitivities comparable to CT.In this review,we describe the state of the art of CEUS for detecting colorectal liver metastases,the imaging features,the literature reports of metastases in CEUS as well as its technique,its clinical role and its potential applications.Additionally,the updated international consensus panel guidelines are reported in this review with the inherent limitations of this technique and best practice experiences.

Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging of uterine leiomyosarcomas： 2 cases report

Uterine leiomyosarcoma is an uncommon malignant neoplasm of smooth muscle origination and is associated with a poor prognosis. We report two cases of uterine leiomyosarcoma that presented with pulmonary metastases.2-deoxy-2-（18F）fluorodeoxyglucose （FDG） positron emission tomography （PET）/computed tomography （CT） was performed to identify the primary carcinoma and found the focus located in the uterus. The follow-up magnetic resonance imaging （MRI） confirmed the diagnosis was uterine leiomyosarcoma.

Combination of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging is an optimal way to evaluate rheumatoid arthritis in rats dynamically

Background Rheumatoid arthritis （RA） is a chronic,systemic autoimmune inflammatory disorder.Many methods have been used to observe the progress of RA.The purpose of this study was to observe the progress of RA in rats with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose （FDG） positron emission tomography/computed tomography （PET/CT）,magnetic resonance （MR） imaging and arthritis score,and analyze the relationships among different methods in evaluation of RA.Methods Sixteen healthy Sprague Dawley （SD） rats about 8-week old were randomly assigned to a RA group and a control group.Bovine type Ⅱ emulsified incomplete Freud＇s adjuvant was used to induce arthritis in the RA group.Arthritis score of the rats in two groups were recorded,and 18F-FDG PET/CT,MR imaging were performed both on the corresponding rats every 3 days.All the rats were sacrificed at week 5,and histopathological examination was performed on rat knees stained with haematoxylin and eosin.Results The arthritis score and the standard uptake value （SUV） of knee joints in RA rats increased with the progression of arthritis gradually.Both peaks of arthritis score and SUV appeared at 21 days after the first immune injection,then the arthritis score and SUV of knee joints decreased slowly.The arthritis scores of knee joints in RA rats were positively correlated with their SUV changes.The MR images were confirmed by the histopathological studies.Conclusion PET/CT can detect the earliest molecular metabolism changes of RA,and MR imaging can follow up the dynamical anatomical changes of RA,all of which indicated that PET/CT and MR imaging may be applied as useful tools to monitor the progress of RA.

Role of advanced imaging techniques in the evaluation of oncological therapies in patients with colorectal liver metastases

In patients with colorectal liver metastasis(CRLMs)unsuitable for surgery,oncological treatments,such as chemotherapy and targeted agents,can be performed.Cross-sectional imaging[computed tomography(CT),magnetic resonance imaging(MRI),18-fluorodexoyglucose positron emission tomography with CT/MRI]evaluates the response of CRLMs to therapy,using post-treatment lesion shrinkage as a qualitative imaging parameter.This point is critical because the risk of toxicity induced by oncological treatments is not always balanced by an effective response to them.Consequently,there is a pressing need to define biomarkers that can predict treatment responses and estimate the likelihood of drug resistance in individual patients.Advanced quantitative imaging(diffusionweighted imaging,perfusion imaging,molecular imaging)allows the in vivo evaluation of specific biological tissue features described as quantitative parameters.Furthermore,radiomics can represent large amounts of numerical and statistical information buried inside cross-sectional images as quantitative parameters.As a result,parametric analysis(PA)translates the numerical data contained in the voxels of each image into quantitative parameters representative of peculiar neoplastic features such as perfusion,structural heterogeneity,cellularity,oxygenation,and glucose consumption.PA could be a potentially useful imaging marker for predicting CRLMs treatment response.This review describes the role of PA applied to cross-sectional imaging in predicting the response to oncological therapies in patients with CRLMs.

Imaging features of retinal hemangioblastoma:A case report

BACKGROUND Hemangioblastoma typically occurs in the cerebellum,spinal cord,and central nervous system.However,in rare cases,it could occur in the retina or optic nerve.The prevalence of retinal hemangioblastoma is 1 in 73080,and it occurs either alone or as the manifestation of von Hippel Lindau(VHL)disease.Here,we reported a rare case with the imaging features of retinal hemangioblastoma without VHL syndrome,along with the relevant literature review.CASE SUMMARY A 53-year-old man had progressive swelling,pain and blurred vision in the left eye without obvious inducement for 15 d.Ultrasonography revealed a possible optic nerve head melanoma.Computed tomography(CT)showed punctate calcification on the posterior wall of the left eye ring and small patchy soft tissue density in the posterior part of the eyeball.Magnetic resonance imaging showed slightly hyperintense signal on T1-weighted images and slightly hypointense-toisointense signal on T2-weighted images at the medial and posterior edges of the left eyeball,a significant enhancement was observed in the contrast-enhanced scans.Positron emission tomography/CT fusion images showed that the glucose metabolism of the lesion was normal.Pathology was consistent with hemangioblastoma.CONCLUSION Early identification of retinal hemangioblastoma based on imaging features is of great value for its personalized treatment.

Advancements of molecular imaging and radiomics in pancreatic carcinoma

Despite the recent progress of medical technology in the diagnosis and treatment of tumors,pancreatic carcinoma remains one of the most malignant tumors,with extremely poor prognosis partly due to the difficulty in early and accurate imaging evaluation.This paper focuses on the research progress of magnetic resonance imaging,nuclear medicine molecular imaging and radiomics in the diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma.We also briefly described the achievements of our team in this field,to facilitate future research and explore new technologies to optimize diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma.

Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging with short T1 inversion recovery-echo planar imaging combined with dual-head coincidence single photon emission computed tomography for diagnosing solitary pulmonary nodule

Positron emission tomography （PET） using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose （FDG） has not been widely used in China for expensive cost （$1200）. Dual-head coincidence single photon emission computed tomography （DHC-SPECT） can depict many of the lesions depicted with a PET scanner in the lungs, which is used in place of PET-CT for discriminating malignant from benign pulmonary nodules in many studies. However, DHC-SPECT has inevitable false-negative results because the sensitivity for small lesions less than 2.0 cm is limited, and has high false-positive rate for active inflammatory nodules. Furthermore,DHC-SPECT also has a considerably higher cost （$300 in China） than other imaging examination.

Clinical significance of prostate 18F-labelled fluorodeoxyglucose uptake on positron emission tomography/computed tomography:A five-year review

AIM To determine the significance and need for investigation of incidental prostatic uptake in men undergoing ^(18)F-labelled fluorodeoxyglucose(^(18)F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography(PET/CT) for other indications.METHODS Hospital databases were searched over a 5-year period for patients undergoing both PET/CT and prostate magnetic resonance imaging(MRI). For the initial analysis, the prostate was divided into six sectors and suspicious or malignant sectors were identified using MRI and histopathology reports respectively. Maximum and mean ^(18)F-FDG standardised uptake values were measured in each sector by an investigator blinded to the MRI and histopathology findings. Two agematched controls were selected per case. Results were analysed using a paired t-test and one-way ANOVA. For the second analysis, PET/CT reports were searched for prostatic uptake reported incidentally and these patients were followed up. RESULTS Over a 5-year period, 15 patients underwent both PET/CT and MRI and had biopsy-proven prostate cancer.Malignant prostatic sectors had a trend to higher ^(18)F-FDG uptake than benign sectors, however this was neither clinically nor statistically significant(3.13 ±0.58 vs 2.86 ± 0.68, P > 0.05). ^(18)F-FDG uptake showed no correlation with the presence or histopathological grade of tumour. ^(18)F-FDG uptake in cases with prostate cancer was comparable to that from age-matched controls. Forty-six(1.6%) of 2846 PET/CTs over a 5-year period reported incidental prostatic uptake. Of these, 18(0.6%) were investigated by PSA, 9(0.3%)were referred to urology, with 3(0.1%) undergoing MRI and/or biopsy. No cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed in patients with incidental ^(18)F-FDG uptake in our institute over a 5-year period.CONCLUSION ^(18)F-FDG uptake overlaps significantly between malignant and benign prostatic conditions. Subsequent patient management was not affected by the reporting of incidental focal prostatic uptake in this cohort.