Background

Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Pulmonary nodules are commonly encountered in clinical practice because of the recent implementation of low-dose CT lung screening programme, incidental finding on cardiac CT or CT for nonthoracic related disease. ¹⁸F-FDG PET-CT plays an important role in the management of pulmonary nodules.

Methods

In this pictorial review, we present six different scenarios of using ¹⁸F-FDG PET-CT in the management of suspicious pulmonary nodule or mass. The advantages and limitations of ¹⁸F-FDG PET-CT and Herder model are discussed.

Results

¹⁸F-FDG PET-CT with risk assessment using Herder model provides added value in characterising indeterminate pulmonary nodules. Besides, ¹⁸F-FDG PET-CT is valuable to guide the site of biopsy and provide accurate staging of lung cancer.

Conclusion

To further improve its diagnostic accuracy, careful history taking, and CT morphological evaluation should be taken into consideration when interpreting ¹⁸FFDG PET-CT findings in patients with these nodules.

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