Proposal of a new acquisition protocol for bladder cancer visualization with 18F-FDG PET/CT.

F-FDG PET/CT has a limited role in the evaluation of locoregional bladder cancer because of the interference of radioactive urine. Methods proposed to overcome interference are based on F-FDG washout and include late images after voiding, catheterization, bladder irrigation, and forced diuresis. We performed a very early F-FDG PET/CT acquisition of the pelvic region in a man with bladder cancer with wall invasion in order to evaluate the feasibility and usefulness of this method to visualize bladder cancer. Early images revealed a pathologic accumulation of the tracer in the posterior left wall of the bladder that was thickened on the CT images.