Focal lung abnormalities are frequent X-ray findings and can have an infectious, inflammatory or neoplastic etiology. In the evaluation of such radiological alterations, it is important to make a distinction between benign and malignant (lung cancer) diseases. Computed tomography characterizes 25% of the lung nodules as indeterminate, requiring thoracotomy with biopsy for diagnostic clarification. FDG-PET has a 94% sensitivity and a 86% specificity in the differentiation of benign and malignant parenchymal lesions, thus reducing by 15% the need for surgery to make a diagnosis. It is useful in the staging of non-small-cell lung carcinoma, having a 91% sensitivity and a 86% specificity in the evaluation of mediastinal lymph nodes. It also seems to be useful in the analysis of liver, adrenal and bone metastases. In this review, the several indications for PET in pulmonary neoplasias are discussed, in addition to details about the examination technique.
Pulmonary nodules; Staging; Non-small-cell lung cancer; Positron emission tomography
