Cardiac Metastasis of Malignant Melanoma Detected by 18F-FDG PET/CT

A 63-year-old man with a history of right plantar malignant melanoma (T3bN0M0, IIb) developed multiple metastases in bilateral lungs 19 months after surgery. Subsequent F-18-FDG PET/CT revealed multiple pulmonary metastases with intense FDG uptake and detected a hypermetabolic lesion in the lateral wall of the left ventricle, which was considered to be a cardiac metastasis of malignant melanoma. This lesion was later confirmed in the dynamic myocardial perfusion MR. This case demonstrates the effectiveness of F-18-FDG PET/CT in detecting occult cardiac metastases of malignant melanoma.

Automated summary

A 63-year-old man with a history of right plantar malignant melanoma developed multiple pulmonary metastases and a cardiac metastasis. F-18-FDG PET/CT was effective in detecting both pulmonary and cardiac metastases, as confirmed by dynamic myocardial perfusion MR.