Combined use of thin-section CT and 18 F-FDG PET/CT for characterization of solitary pulmonary nodules

• Published in: Nan fang yi ke da xue xue bao = Journal of Southern Medical University Vol. 37; no. 3; p. 283
• Main Authors: Ren, Yun-Yan, Li, You-Cai, Wu, Hu-Bing, Wang, Quan-Shi, Han, Yan-Jiang, Zhou, Wen-Lan, Li, Hong-Sheng, Wang, Zhen, Mohammed Shah Alam, Mohammed Shah Alam
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Chinese
• Published: China 20.03.2017
• Subjects: Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; Humans; Lung Neoplasms; Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography; Radiopharmaceuticals; Sensitivity and Specificity; Solitary Pulmonary Nodule - diagnostic imaging
• ISSN: 1673-4254

To investigate whether fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography ( F-FDG PET/CT) combined with thin-section CT improves the diagnostic performance for solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs). A total of 267 patients underwent examinations with F-FDG PET/CT and thin-section CT for evaluating the SPNs with undetermined nature, which was further confirmed by pathological examination or clinical follow-up. The performance of two diagnostic criteria based on findings in PET/CT alone (Criterion 1) and in PET/CT combined with thin-section CT (Criterion 2) were compared. Thin-section CT provided greater diagnostic information for SPNs in 84.2% of the patients. Compared with Criterion 1, the diagnosis based on Criterion 2 significantly increased the diagnostic sensitivity (80.4% vs 91%, P<0.01) and accuracy (76.4% vs 87.2%, P<0.01) for lung cancer. The lesion size and the CT features including lobulation, air bronchogram, and feeding vessel, but not SUVmax, were all helpful for characte