Arch Surg Chicago
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Evaluation of newly diagnosed patients with melanoma for metastasis is requisite to treatment planning. The reported diagnostic yield of whole-body conventional radiological imaging in initial staging of patients with melanoma is low. However, the diagnostic yield of positron emission tomography (PET) for distant metastases is unclear. ⋯ This study suggests no utility for PET in the detection of occult metastases in patients at initial diagnosis of melanoma. Omission of PET imaging from preoperative evaluations for patients with melanoma is recommended.