Abstract
Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the increased diagnostic benefit of integrated positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) interpretation in evaluating solitary pulmonary nodules for malignancy. Methods: One hundred seventeen patients (67 men and 50 women; mean age ± SD, 61.7± 13.6 years, range, 31-86 years) with indeterminate solitary pulmonary nodules and no previous history of malignancy were analyzed. PET/CT was performed with an integrated PET/CT scanner (Siemens Biograph BGO duo) 1 h after an intravenous injection of 370 MBq (10 mCi) 18F- fluorodeoxyglucose. Patients fasted for 6 h before imaging. PET was interpreted alone or combined with CT and was graded according to a five-point scale. A malignant diagnosis was based on histological findings or a clinical and radiological follow-up after at least 24 months. The diagnostic performances of PET alone and integrated PET/CT interpretation were evaluated using discriminant analysis. Results: PET alone correctly classified 85% of nodules and integrated PET/CT interpretation increased the correct classification to 89%, with similar sensitivity and specificity of 88% and 89%, respectively. False-positive PET results mainly resulted from granulomatous disorders. Four (50%) of the eight cases deemed indeterminate on PET alone were resolved with combined PET/CT interpretation. Conclusions: Although the benefit attributable to the CT component was limited when integrated PET/CT was used, PET and CT acted synergistically to significantly increase the diagnostic veracity for PET-indeterminate nodules.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 204-209 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Molecular Imaging and Biology |
Volume | 12 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Apr 2010 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- FDG
- Lung cancer
- PET/CT
- Solitary pulmonary nodule
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Oncology
- Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging
- Cancer Research