Pulmonary Carcinoid Tumor on Fluorine-18-FDG PET Imaging

On fluorine-18-FDG PET imaging, pulmonary carcinoid tumors usually have lower FDG uptake than expected for malignant tumors. Biopsy or close radiologic follow-up is therefore recommended for solitary pulmonary nodules that are clinically suspected to be carcinoid tumors and that do not show significantly increased metabolic activity on FDG PET images. We report a case where the FDG PET imaging was positive in this patient with known primary pulmonary carcinoid tumor. This tumor mass is classified as an atypical(moremalignant)carcinoid tumor at pathology.