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Role of 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT in a Case of SDHB-Related Pterygopalatine Fossa Paraganglioma Successfully Controlled with Octreotide

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Abstract

We describe an unusual case of a 42-year-old female with an unresectable succinate dehydrogenase subunit B (SDHB)-related pterygopalatine fossa paraganglioma. She underwent somatostatin receptor imaging with 68Ga-DOTA(0)-Tyr(3)-octreotate (68Ga-DOTATATE) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), which showed uptake in the above mentioned tumor. Hence, the patient was started on octreotide, a cold somatostatin analog, and responded with tumor stabilization and improvement of clinical symptoms for 36 months since initiation of octreotide therapy. This case demonstrates the role of 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT in diagnostic localization and its subsequent role in treatment using cold somatostatin analog as a potential choice of therapy in the management of paraganglioma in an unusual location with limited therapeutic options.

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Acknowledgments

We express our sincere gratitude to the patients and their family members for their participation in this study.

Funding

This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (grant number Z1AHD008735) awarded to Karel Pacak. This work was supported, in part, by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and was supported, in part, by the Intramural Research Program of the Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute.

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Correspondence to Karel Pacak.

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Abhishek Jha, Mayank Patel, Eva Baker, Melissa K. Gonzales, Alexander Ling, Corina Millo, Marianne Knue, Ali Cahid Civelek, and Karel Pacak declares no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Jha, A., Patel, M., Baker, E. et al. Role of 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT in a Case of SDHB-Related Pterygopalatine Fossa Paraganglioma Successfully Controlled with Octreotide. Nucl Med Mol Imaging 54, 48–52 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13139-019-00629-3

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