Focal Pulmonary 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose Accumulation without Corresponding Computed tomography Abnormalities due to intravenous injection Passing through the lower limb varicose veins

A 58-year-old woman with bilateral lower limb varicose veins and Burkitt lymphoma underwent positronemission tomography/computed tomography (PET-CT) to exclude lymphoma relapse. PET-CT images did not show any suspicious lesion suggestive of malignancy. However, intense 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake focus was detected in the left lung without a corresponding CT abnormality. Follow-up PET-CT 7 weeks later showed disappearance of the 18F-FDG–avid left lung focus, although another new 18F-FDG–avid focus without a corresponding CT abnormality was detected in the right lung. It is possible that these artefacts were due to 18F-FDG–avid microembolus formations, probably related to intravenous 18F-FDG injection into the left foot passing through the varicose veins of the leg. Care should be taken to avoid misinterpreting PET-CT images should a similar situation be encountered in the future.