Comparison of CT, PET, and PET/CT for staging of patients with indolent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Mol Imaging Biol. 2009 Jul-Aug;11(4):269-74. doi: 10.1007/s11307-009-0200-9. Epub 2009 Mar 27.

Abstract

Purpose: The aim was to investigate the potential impact of positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) as compared to PET and CT on the staging of patients with indolent lymphoma.

Procedures: PET/CTs from 45 patients with indolent lymphoma undergoing staging or restaging were studied. Clinical follow-up, additional imaging, and histology served as the gold standard.

Results: PET/CT correctly diagnosed 92 nodal regions as positive for lymphomatous involvement and 458 as disease free vs 68 and 449 for PET and 64 and 459 for CT, respectively. The respective sensitivities, specificities, and accuracies were 99%, 100%, and 99.8% for PET/CT, 68%, 97.5%, and 92.2% for PET, and 70%, 100%, and 94.7% for CT. PET/CT performed significantly better than PET (p < 0.001 for sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy) and CT (p < 0.001 for sensitivity and accuracy). PET/CT also correctly identified significantly more extra-nodal lesions (22) than CT (14) and PET (nine).

Conclusions: PET/CT provides significantly more accurate information compared to PET and CT for the staging and re-staging of patients with indolent lymphoma.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Contrast Media
  • Data Interpretation, Statistical
  • Female
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 / pharmacokinetics*
  • Humans
  • Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Ki-67 Antigen / chemistry
  • Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / diagnostic imaging
  • Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / pathology*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasm Staging / methods*
  • Positron-Emission Tomography* / methods
  • Radiopharmaceuticals / pharmacokinetics*
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed*

Substances

  • Contrast Media
  • Ki-67 Antigen
  • Radiopharmaceuticals
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18