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PET Scan: Nuclear Medicine Imaging in Myositis

  • Inflammatory Muscle Disease (I Lundberg and L Diederichsen, Section Editors)
  • Published:
Current Rheumatology Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

Positron emission tomography (PET) combined with computed tomography (CT) has proven useful as a cancer screening technique in patients with inflammatory myopathy, mainly dermatomyositis. In this review, we focus on advances in this direction and other potential applications of PET/CT in patients with inflammatory myopathy.

Recent Findings

Cancer screening by PET/CT seems suitable and cost-effective in patients with myositis. It has also shown value as a hybrid technique for diagnosing myositis versus controls and could be of interest for differentiating between polymyositis and sporadic inclusion body myositis. Quantification of muscle activity by PET/CT seems reliable. Preliminary data suggest that it could also be used to diagnose and measure the activity of the disease in the lung.

Summary

PET/CT should be in the toolbox of physicians managing patients with myositis. The multiple applications of PET/CT include its value for cancer screening, measuring the activity of the disease in muscle, and helping to differentiate between myositis phenotypes. The possibility to diagnose and monitor inflammatory lung activity remains to be demonstrated in well-designed studies.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) (grant number PI15/02100).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Internal Medicine Department, Vall d’Hebron General Hospital, Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Albert Selva-O’Callaghan, Albert Gil-Vila & Marcelo Alvarado-Cárdenas

  2. Nuclear Medicine Department, Vall d’Hebron General Hospital, Barcelona, Spain

    Marc Simó-Perdigó

  3. Rheumatology Unit, Vall D’Hebron General Hospital, , Barcelona, Spain

    Ernesto Trallero-Araguás

  4. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA

    Iago Pinal-Fernandez

  5. Faculty of Health Sciences, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain

    Iago Pinal-Fernandez

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  1. Albert Selva-O’Callaghan
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Correspondence to Albert Selva-O’Callaghan.

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Selva-O’Callaghan, A., Gil-Vila, A., Simó-Perdigó, M. et al. PET Scan: Nuclear Medicine Imaging in Myositis. Curr Rheumatol Rep 21, 64 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11926-019-0864-3

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