Positron emission tomography in artificial stone silicosis

Abstract

Artificial stone (AS) silicosis has emerged as a specially aggressive form of silicosis that can lead to pulmonary fibrosis and respiratory failure. The utility of positron emission tomography combined with computed tomography (PET/CT), an essential tool in oncological diseases that shows increased metabolic activity in neoplastic cells, is being evaluated in inflammatory pulmonary diseases. There are few publications about its use in silicosis, almost always referred to isolated cases in the context of studying a possible neoplasm. We present four cases of AS silicosis that underwent PET/CT and discuss its possible usefulness in this entity.