Case Report
Copyright ©2009 The WJG Press and Baishideng. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Aug 7, 2009; 15(29): 3691-3693
Published online Aug 7, 2009. doi: 10.3748/wjg.15.3691
Xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis mimicking gallbladder carcinoma with a false-positive result on fluorodeoxyglucose PET
Isamu Makino, Takahiro Yamaguchi, Nariatsu Sato, Toshiaki Yasui, Ichiro Kita
Isamu Makino, Takahiro Yamaguchi, Nariatsu Sato, Toshiaki Yasui, Ichiro Kita, Department of Surgery, Kanazawa Social Insurance Hospital, Kanazawa Ishikawa 920-8610, Japan
Author contributions: Makino I, Yamaguchi T, Sato N, Yasui T and Kita I performed the operations; Makino I wrote the manuscript.
Correspondence to: Isamu Makino, MD, PhD, Department of Surgery, Kanazawa Social Insurance Hospital, Kanazawa Ishikawa 920-8610, Japan. i.makino@staff.kanazawa-u.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-76-2522200
Fax: +81-76-2535074
Received: April 23, 2009
Revised: July 1, 2009
Accepted: July 8, 2009
Published online: August 7, 2009
Abstract

Recently, several reports have demonstrated that fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) is useful in differentiating between benign and malignant lesions in the gallbladder. However, there is a limitation in the ability of FDG-PET to differentiate between inflammatory and malignant lesions. We herein present a case of xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis misdiagnosed as gallbladder carcinoma by ultrasonography and computed tomography. FDG-PET also showed increased activity. In this case, FDG-PET findings resulted in a false-positive for the diagnosis of gallbladder carcinoma.

Keywords: Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; Positron-emission tomography; Xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis; Gallbladder cancer