Hello,
My brother has been experiencing some strange problems and symptoms, and I have some questions.
My brother started having right shoulder pain about 9 weeks ago. His doctor has been treating him for a torn rotator cuff.
Last week, the doctor decided to do an MRI. After it was read by the radiologist, they immediately scheduled him for a CT scan of the shoulder and a PET scan. The tech told my brother to stay in the waiting area so the radiologist could speak with him. After a brief wait, the radiologist suggested performing a CT scan of the chest because there were some "hot spots" on the scans: a large one in the right shoulder, a smaller one in the left shoulder, a few on the 2nd rib on the left side, some in the lymph nodes and in the lungs. The radiologist kept asking if my brother was experiencing a cough, or shortness of breath, chest pains. My brother denied having any problems except for the severe pain in is shoulder.
Once all the scans were complete, my brother was instructed to return to his doctor's office. There, nothing was really said except they were scheduling appointments with a pulmonologist and an orthopaedic specialist.
My brother is 48 years old and the picture of health. We are confused and concerned, especially since so many possible things that could be causing the pain have been ruled out, ie, pneumonia, congestive heart failure, torn rotator cuff, infection, fracture, etc.
Can anyone here tell me exactly what is a "hot spot" that appears in PET scans and CT scans?
Thank you very much!