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Focal lung abnormalities are frequent X-ray findings and can have an infectious, inflammatory or neoplastic etiology. In the evaluation of such radiological alterations, it is important to make a distinction between benign and malignant (lung cancer) diseases. Computed tomography characterizes 25% of the lung nodules as indeterminate, requiring thoracotomy with biopsy for diagnostic clarification. FDG-PET has a 94% sensitivity and a 86% specificity in the differentiation of benign and malignant parenchymal lesions, thus reducing by 15% the need for surgery to make a diagnosis. It is useful in the staging of non-small-cell lung carcinoma, having a 91% sensitivity and a 86% specificity in the evaluation of mediastinal lymph nodes. It also seems to be useful in the analysis of liver, adrenal and bone metastases. In this review, the several indications for PET in pulmonary neoplasias are discussed, in addition to details about the examination technique.

In the present study we investigated the influence of methotrexate (MTX) and azathioprine (AZA) on the serum levels of the IgA-a1-antitrypsin (IgA-AT) complex in patients with the systemic form of juvenile chronic arthritis (JCA). Fifty-six JCA patients (22 treated with MTX, 18 treated with AZA, and 16 not treated with any immunosuppressive agent) were enrolled in the study. MTX dosage ranged from 0.3 to 0.5 mg kg-1 week-1, while AZA was given daily at an average dose of 1 mg/kg. MTX was given for 13 months (SD = 7 months) whereas AZA for 11 months (SD = 6 months). The average value of the complex was higher in JCA patients than in both control groups (0.74 ± 0.73 U vs 0.37 ± 0.13 U (control children), Pa1-acid-glycoprotein (r = 0.45, Pa1-antichymotrypsin (r = 0.52, Pa1-antitrypsin (r = 0.40, P<0.01) and IgA (r = 0.56, P<0.01) was established