Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) sca
nning has been useful in the management of various cancers. The normal gluc
ose use of gray matter often limits the detection of metastatic lesions to
the brain and skull with FDG PET. The authors report two cases of calvarial
metastases: one with pheochromocytoma and the other with non-small-cell lu
ng carcinoma, These cases illustrate the crucial role that FDG PET can play
when patients are examined for metastases, The important concept of contra
st resolution that is achieved with PET imaging is discussed as an advantag
e that significantly overcomes its limited spatial resolution in detecting
small lesions that may not be detected by anatomic imaging techniques with
high spatial resolution.