FDG-PET evaluation of pleural abnormalities

Journal Article · Sun May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1994 · Journal of Nuclear Medicine

OSTI ID:198088

Lowe, V J; Patz, E; Harris, P L ^[1]

---

1. Duke Univ. Medical Center, Durham, NC (United States); and others

Pleural abnormalities identified on anatomical studies are often nonspecific and may represent benign or malignant disease. We prospectively evaluated the ability of FDG-PET to identify malignancy in patients with pleural abnormalities detected on chest radiographs or chest CT. Thirty-two patients with pleural abnormalities (pleural masses, thickening or effusions) found on chest radiographs or CT were evaluated by FDG-PET. Regions of interest (ROI) were identified on the PET images correlating to anatomic abnormalities and standard uptake ratios (SUR`s) of these ROI`s were calculated. A SUR value of 2.5 or greater was considered positive for malignancy. Physicians blinded to biopsy results graded their confidence of malignancy (1-5 scale) and graded lesion FDG uptake with respect to mediastinal radioactivity. Twenty-three of the patients had definitive diagnoses by tissue biopsy. Seventeen of these patients had malignant (SUR=7.9{plus_minus}3.8) and 6 had benign (SUR=2.8{plus_minus}2.4) causes of their pleural abnormalities (p=0.001). All but two malignant cases had SURs higher than 2.5 and one of these two was correctly interpreted by the observers. SURs lower than 2.5 were seen in four of the six (67%) benign pleural abnormalities. Using a combination of both visual and semiquantitative analysis, the sensitivity of FDG-PET for detecting malignant pleural abnormalities was 94%. Active infections in the pleural space had increased FDG uptake on PET studies while other benign pleural abnormalities did not. FDG-PET has very high sensitivity for detecting malignant pleural abnormalities and can differentiate benign from malignant pleural abnormalities.

• OSTI ID: 198088
• Report Number(s): CONF-940605--
• Journal Information: Journal of Nuclear Medicine, Journal Name: Journal of Nuclear Medicine Journal Issue: Suppl.5 Vol. 35; ISSN JNMEAQ; ISSN 0161-5505
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

55 BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
BASIC STUDIES
CHEST
FLUORINE 18
FLUORODEOXYGLUCOSE
IMAGES
LABELLED COMPOUNDS
NEOPLASMS
PATIENTS
POSITRON COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY
SENSITIVITY
UPTAKE