F-18 FDG PET/CT following dental extraction in a patient with head and neck cancer

A 48-year-old man with squamous-cell carcinoma of the left tonsillar fossa and cervical lymph node metastases was being staged before radiation and chemotherapy. The patient had periodontal disease, and extraction of 2 teeth was performed before therapy. A staging PET/CT was performed 1 week after extraction. This case demonstrates increased FDG uptake at the extraction sites, which could be potentially mistaken for metastatic lesions, especially without the fused PET/CT images.