Suture granuloma with false-positive finding on PET/CT after gastrectomy for gastric cancer

Asian J Endosc Surg. 2015 Nov;8(4):457-60. doi: 10.1111/ases.12206.

Abstract

This study is a case report on a 49-year-old woman who had a gastrectomy and lymphadenectomy for pStage IIIa gastric cancer. Shortly after a 12-month course of adjuvant chemotherapy, CT showed a nodule adjacent to the gallbladder. High (18) F-fluorodeoxyglucose accumulation was detected, with a standardized uptake value of 10. Therefore, laparoscopic excision was performed for diagnosis and treatment. The histopathological finding was suture granuloma. Suture granulomas with high standardized uptake values on PET scans are uncommon and often cause surgeons to provide an inaccurate diagnosis. Our study suggests that suture granuloma should be included in the differential diagnosis of a new or recurrent mass detected in patients with a history of prior surgery; however, surgeons must bear in mind that false-positive fluorodeoxyglucose-PET results can be observed in suture granuloma.

Keywords: False-positive PET; gastric cancer; suture granuloma.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adenocarcinoma / diagnosis
  • Adenocarcinoma / surgery*
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • False Positive Reactions
  • Female
  • Gastrectomy*
  • Granuloma, Foreign-Body / diagnosis*
  • Granuloma, Foreign-Body / etiology
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Multimodal Imaging
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / diagnosis
  • Positron-Emission Tomography*
  • Postoperative Complications / diagnosis*
  • Stomach Neoplasms / diagnosis
  • Stomach Neoplasms / surgery*
  • Sutures
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed*