Teflon-induced granuloma: a false-positive finding with PET resolved with combined PET and CT.

Patients who have undergone thyroidectomy may have recurrent laryngeal nerve injury; until recently, Teflon injection was commonly used for vocal cord medialization. We present a case of a patient who underwent thyroidectomy who had significantly increased and unilateral (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose uptake in the neck, which was found to be localized to the left vocal cord by use of combined positron emission tomography (PET) and CT, presumably because of a Teflon-induced granuloma. Knowledge of this potential source of false-positive PET interpretation because of its inability to precisely localize neoplastic lesions, and the use of combined PET and CT imaging, may allow precise diagnosis and prevention of unnecessary interventions.