Abstract
Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is valuable for the diagnosis of malignancies. However, PET/CT is unable to discriminate exactly between inflammation and a neoplasm. We report a case of a 50-year-old man with pulmonary paragonimiasis that was suspicious for lung cancer, as detected by PET/CT. The use of PET/CT revealed multilobulated consolidation on the right lung and patchy consolidation on the left lung, with increased fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake. In addition, the left paraaortic lymph node (LN) and peripancreatic LN showed enlargement with increased FDG uptake. Lung cancer with multiple lymph node metastases was suspected from the increased standardized uptake values (SUV>4.5) determined by PET/CT. We performed wedge resection via video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) and found Paragonimus westermani eggs in the involved tissues.
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