ArticleInsights into imaging2014
FDG-PET/CT pitfalls in oncological head and neck imaging.
Article in Insights into imaging, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 84 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
84 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 213 citations in OpenAlex.
- Diagnostic imaging modalities to detect regional nodal involvement in oral squamous cell carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2026Pooled it
- Prevalence and malignant risk of incidental uptake in the oropharynx detected by PET-CT: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2025Pooled it
- The Role of Positron Emission Tomography for the Management of Sinonasal Malignancies: A Systematic Review.American journal of rhinology & allergy · 2023Pooled it
- Prognostic Value of Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator Receptor PET/CT in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinomas and Comparison withJournal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine · 2022Trial
- Quality and reliability of YouTube videos on PET/CT radiation safety: a comparative analysis between human experts and large language models.Japanese journal of radiology · 2026Article
- Spinal cord FDG PET uptake in healthy adults: an AI-driven segmentation study.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026Article
- Decoding Occult Cervical Lymph Node Metastasis in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: From AI-Driven Multimodal Fusion to Clinical Translation.Current oncology reports · 2026Review
- Evaluation of mid-treatmentQuantitative imaging in medicine and surgery · 2026Article
- Multi-modal segment anything model (mmSAM) for tumor segmentation in multi-tracer oncologic PET/CT.EJNMMI physics · 2026Article
- Convolutional neural network analysis of cervical CT images: classification of Kikuchi disease, lymphoma, lymphadenitis, and tuberculosis.Biomedical engineering online · 2026Article
- Use of gadolinium-based contrast agents in head and neck cancer diagnosis, staging, and monitoring: current applications and future perspectives.European radiology · 2026Review
- Combined use of 18 F-FDG PET/CT and MRI for evaluating infection status and clinical outcomes before reimplantation in two-stage revision arthroplasty.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2026Article
- Predictive Value of a Radiomics-Derived Risk Score for Local Progression in T3 Laryngeal Cancer: A 10-Year Single-Center Retrospective Cohort Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Necrotizing Sialometaplasia of Tubarial Glands With Rouvière Lymphadenitis Complicating Postradiotherapy Tumor Follow Up.The Laryngoscope · 2025Article
- Dynamic Whole-Body FDG PET/CT for Predicting Malignancy in Head and Neck Tumors and Cervical Lymphadenopathy.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- New FDG-PET/CT interpretation criteria (Huaxi criteria) for response assessment in patients with nasal-type extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma: development and validation.Annals of hematology · 2025Article
- Diagnostic Performance of Magnetic Resonance Sequences in Staging Lymph Node Involvement and Extranodal Extension in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Sequential MRI as a Diagnostic Tool for Follow-Up of Hyaluronic Acid Dermal Filler, in a Woman Who Underwent Radiation Therapy for Oral Cancer.Clinical case reports · 2025Article
- Brown Adipose Tissue Mimicking Head and Neck Cancer on PET Scan in a Patient on GLP-1 Drug.The Laryngoscope · 2025Article
- Article
24 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesPositron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET/CT) with fluorine-18-fluorodeoxy-D-glucose (FDG) has evolved from a research modality to an invaluable tool in head and neck cancer imaging. However, interpretation of FDG PET/CT studies may be difficult due to the inherently complex anatomical landmarks, certain physiological variants and unusual patterns of high FDG uptake in the head and neck. The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive approach to key imaging features and interpretation pitfalls of FDG-PET/CT of the head and neck and how to avoid them.
methodsWe review the pathophysiological mechanisms leading to potentially false-positive and false-negative assessments, and we discuss the complementary use of high-resolution contrast-enhanced head and neck PET/CT (HR HN PET/CT) and additional cross-sectional imaging techniques, including ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
resultsThe commonly encountered false-positive PET/CT interpretation pitfalls are due to high FDG uptake by physiological causes, benign thyroid nodules, unilateral cranial nerve palsy and increased FDG uptake due to inflammation, recent chemoradiotherapy and surgery. False-negative findings are caused by lesion vicinity to structures with high glucose metabolism, obscuration of FDG uptake by dental hardware, inadequate PET scanner resolution and inherent low FDG-avidity of some tumours.
conclusionsThe interpreting physician must be aware of these unusual patterns of FDG uptake, as well as limitations of PET/CT as a modality, in order to avoid overdiagnosis of benign conditions as malignancy, as well as missing out on actual pathology. TEACHING POINTS: • Knowledge of key imaging features of physiological and non-physiological FDG uptake is essential for the interpretation of head and neck PET/CT studies. • Precise anatomical evaluation and correlation with contrast-enhanced CT, US or MRI avoid PET/CT misinterpretation. • Awareness of unusual FDG uptake patterns avoids overdiagnosis of benign conditions as malignancy.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.