[PattiM]

PET scan shows "activity" at bone marrow biopsy location

by PattiM on Mon May 07, 2018 12:43 pm

Hello,

Two weeks ago I had a bone marrow biopsy. After that, my doctor ordered a PET scan to make sure their is no bone activity. I had that 10 days ago.

Now I need a MRI of my pelvic area because the PET scan showed activity exactly where my biopsy was done.

My doctor wants to confirm that this finding is from the biopsy and not a lesion. The rest of the PET scan was completely normal.

Does this sort of thing happen often? How likely is it that the activity seen in the PET scan is from the biopsy, and not really a sign of myeloma activity?

Thanks.

[Multibilly]

Re: PET scan shows "activity" at bone marrow biopsy location

by Multibilly on Mon May 07, 2018 3:55 pm

Hi Patti,

I don't recall hearing about this kind of phenomenon before on the forum, but a false-positive from the PET/CT scan due to the trauma caused by the biopsy procedure seems plausible. I say this because of this article:

Bae, JM, et al, "False-positive Uptake on Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography Immediately After Lung Biopsy: A Case Report," Medicine (Baltimore). 2015 Nov; 94(44): e1896 (full text of article)

Excerpt:

"The [FDG] uptake [that was highlighted on the PET/CT scan] represented a procedure-induced [in this case a lung biopsy] inflammatory reaction, which caused hypermetabolism and FDG uptake."