This imaging modality should be the initial diagnostic test for patients with these disorders, but follow-up biopsy is mandatory.
Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) has revolutionized both diagnosis and treatment of cancer (J Nucl Med 2010; 51:401 and Lancet Oncol 2010; 11:92). The technique combines CT examination of lesion size with imaging of glucose uptake on PET. In patients with paraneoplastic neurological disorders, PET alone is known to be superior to CT alone for identifying occult cancers (JW Neurol Jan 10 2002). Now, researchers have examined the value of PET/CT in 56 patients with suspected paraneoplastic syndromes who were retrospectively identified as having undergone such imaging after initial test results (including CT alone) were negative.
PET/CT results were positive in 22 of the patients. Of these, 10 patients had biopsy-confir…