ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the clinical significance of 18 F?FDG PET/CT in assessment of Tomita score in spinal metastases. Methods From October 2012 to October 2015, a total of 77 patients (38 males, 39 females;average age:56.5 years) with suspicious spinal metastasis tumors underwent 18F?FDG PET/CT scan and were included in this retrospective study. Spinal metastasis were confirmed by pa?thology. Each patient was evaluated by the scoring system of Tomita according to the grade malignancy of pri?mary lesions and metastasis of organs and bones in PET/CT. Results Seventy?two patients were osteolytic metastases. Among them, only 23 patients received operative procedure. There were 2 patients with osteoblas?tic metastases, and 3 patients with both osteolytic and osteoblastic lesions. The average Tomita score of opera?tion group was 5.7. Two to three scores were assessed in 2 patients, 4-5 scores in 9 patients, 6-7 scores in 9 patients, and 8-10 scores in 3 patients. The average score of non?operation group was 8.8. One case got 2-3 scores, 2 patients got 4-5, 18 patients got 6-7, and 33 patients got 8-10. Conclusion PET/CT is a convenient and effective tool for assessment of Tomita score in patients with spinal metastases.