Visualization of cranial giant cell arteritis with [18F]FDG PET/CT: A case report

Giant cell arteritis is a form of large vessel vasculitis which can present with nonspecific symptoms, and if left untreated can cause significant morbidity and/or death. Early diagnosis and management are therefore paramount. The use of [¹⁸F]FDG PET/CT in the evaluation of giant cell arteritis has increased in recent years, with newer generation PET scanners capturing the historically elusive cranial vessel inflammation in active vasculitis. We present a case of giant cell arteritis which was suspected on conventional imaging modalities, and subsequently evaluated with [¹⁸F]FDG PET/CT which revealed marked vascular inflammation involving both cranial and other large vessels.