The Journal of dermatology
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18 F-Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) is usually used to screen malignancy in patients with dermatomyositis (DM). Additionally, it is well known that FDG-PET/CT provides valuable information for evaluating the activity of several inflammatory diseases, such as sarcoidosis, atherosclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical usefulness of FDG-PET/CT for the detection of inflammatory lesions and disease activity of both myopathy and interstitial lung disease (ILD) in DM patients. ⋯ Serum Krebs von den Lungen-6 levels also revealed significant positive correlation with total SUVmax of right and left lungs. Regarding FDG-PET/CT and myopathy, total SUVmax in the muscles was significantly correlated with serum cytokeratin levels. Our results suggest that FDG uptake (SUVmax) might be useful for not only the detection of malignant tumors, but also the evaluation of the location and activity of ILD and myositis in DM patients.