PET/CT and renal pathology: a blind spot for radiologists? Part 2--lymphoma, leukemia, and metastatic disease

PET/CT with (18)F-FDG is a powerful tool to evaluate patients with hematologic malignancy or to assess the burden of metastatic disease from solid tumors. Metabolically active renal pathology associated with lymphoma, leukemia, or metastatic disease can be missed without close attention to both the PET and CT portions of the study because of physiologic FDG excretion in the kidneys. This article illustrates the appearance of tracer uptake and the key anatomic features of lymphoma, leukemia, and metastatic disease involving the kidney on FDG PET/CT. Close attention to both the FDG PET and CT portions of an FDG PET/CT study is essential to evaluate the kidneys in oncology patients.