Imaging spectrum and pitfalls of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography in patients with tuberculosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most prominant diseases frequently causing false positive lesions in oncologic surveys using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), since TB granulomas are composed of activated macrophages and lymphocytes with high affinity for glucose. These pitfalls of 18F-FDG PET/CT are important for radiologists. Being familiar with 18F-FDG images of TB could assist in preventing unfavorable clinical results based on misdiagnoses. In addition, 18F-FDG PET/CT has the advantage of being able to screen the whole body, and can clearly detect harboring TB lesions as high uptake foci. This article details the spectrum and pitfalls of 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging in TB.