Normal Thymic Uptake of FDG on PET Imaging

Abstract

Assessment and characterization of the thymus by various imaging methods have been extensively described. The authors report increased uptake of 2-(18)Fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) in the normal thymus gland of patients between the ages of 2 and 13 years. Most of these patients had PET scans for various oncologic conditions and had no clinical problems referable to the thymus gland. This uptake assumes an important role when evaluating mediastinal uptake in whole-body PET scans in pediatric oncology patients to avoid false-positive interpretation.