Diagnostic value of 18 F-FDG PET/CT for hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma / 中华核医学与分子影像杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the imaging characteristics and diagnostic value of 18 F-FDG PET/CT in patients with hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma ( HEH) . Methods From January 2014 to December 2015, 5 HEH patients (2 males, 3 females; average age (49.2±13.7) years) confirmed by pathology and underwent 18 F-FDG PET/CT imaging were enrolled in this retrospective study. The character-istics of PET/CT images were analyzed. Two-sample t test and Pearson linear correlation analysis were used for data analysis. Results A total of 26 lesions were detected in 4 patients with multiple lesions, of which 88.5%( 23/26) distributed at the liver edge, and 42. 3%( 11/26) had hepatic capsule retraction sign. SUVmax of the 26 lesions was 5.1±2.6 and it was not correlated with tumor size (r=0.054, P>0.05). Lesion FDG uptake in patients with distant metastases was higher than that in patients without distant metastases (6.08±1.80 vs 3.84±1.14;t=4.15, P<0.05). Two patients underwent the delayed imaging, and FDG up-take in 11/14 lesions was higher compared with that of early imaging, and 3/14 lesions were newly detected by the delayed imaging. One patient had diffuse low-density lesions with diameters between 6.1 and 35.5 mm and SUVmax between 2.6 and 8.1. Conclusion Liver lesions of HEH patients show some features on 18F-FDG PET/CT images which can find distant metastases, and the delayed imaging can improve the detection rate of lesions.