Hypermetabolic mesenteric brown adipose tissue on dual-time point FDG PET/CT in a patient with benign retroperitoneal pheochromocytoma

Clin Nucl Med. 2014 Mar;39(3):e229-32. doi: 10.1097/RLU.0b013e3182816515.

Abstract

Intense FDG uptake of the mesenteric brown adipose tissue (BAT) is rare. We present a case of benign retroperitoneal pheochromocytoma showing multiple hypermetabolic regions corresponding with common locations of BAT. Furthermore, the mesenteric region showed intense FDG uptake, with SUVmax of 10.6. FDG PET/CT findings of this case supports the previous theories that the incidence of BAT may be higher in patients with pheochromocytoma than in patients without, and the intra-abdominal fat of human adults, including the omental fat, which is brown adipose tissue in infancy, becomes reactivated in the presence of high circulating noradrenaline concentrations.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adipose Tissue, Brown / diagnostic imaging
  • Adipose Tissue, Brown / metabolism*
  • Adipose Tissue, Brown / pathology
  • Adrenal Gland Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging
  • Adrenal Gland Neoplasms / pathology
  • Adult
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mesentery / diagnostic imaging
  • Mesentery / metabolism*
  • Mesentery / pathology
  • Multimodal Imaging*
  • Pheochromocytoma / diagnostic imaging*
  • Pheochromocytoma / metabolism
  • Pheochromocytoma / pathology
  • Positron-Emission Tomography*
  • Retroperitoneal Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging*
  • Retroperitoneal Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Retroperitoneal Neoplasms / pathology
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed*

Substances

  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18