Visualization of cranial giant cell arteritis with [18F]FDG PET/CT: A case report

Abstract

Giant cell arteritis is a form of large vessel vasculitis which can present with nonspecific symptoms, and if left untreated can cause significant morbidity and/or death. Early diagnosis and management are therefore paramount. The use of [18F]FDG PET/CT in the evaluation of giant cell arteritis has increased in recent years, with newer generation PET scanners capturing the historically elusive cranial vessel inflammation in active vasculitis. We present a case of giant cell arteritis which was suspected on conventional imaging modalities, and subsequently evaluated with [18F]FDG PET/CT which revealed marked vascular inflammation involving both cranial and other large vessels.

Keywords

• FDG positron emission tomography
• Giant cell arteritis
• Temporal arteritis
• Vasculitis
• Standardized uptake value
• Temporal artery biopsy