DIFFERENTIAL-DIAGNOSIS OF SUSPICIOUS MASS IN THE NECK USING POSITRON-EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY

A noninvasive diagnostic method for the evaluation of a suspicious mas s in the neck can be of great value for further diagnostic approach. T he differing metabolic activity of malignant and benign tumors offers the possibility to determine the status of a lesion by the quantitativ e evaluation of the glucose uptake by positron emission tomography (PE T). The diagnostic relevance of the metabolic activity has been shown earlier in more than 50 malignant tumors of the head and neck (Reisser et al., HNO 40 [1992] 225-231). The present study demonstrates the de termination of tumor status in two benign and two malignant tumors of the neck by PET. Quantitative evaluation of the glucose uptake reveale d significantly higher values in malignant than in benign lesions. The refore the determination of the glucose metabolism prior to the indisp ensable histological diagnosis of the status of a lesion can provide v aluable hints for the further diagnostic and therapeutic approach to t he lesion.