ABSTRACT
Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the advantages of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography and computed tomography with magnetic resonance (PET/CT-MR) in diagnosing and monitoring patients with adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD). Methods: Participants in this retrospective case-control study underwent whole-body 18F-FDG-PET/CT-MR imaging. All PET scans were qualitatively and semiquantitatively analyzed using standardized uptake values (SUVs) normalized to liver uptake, i.e., we calculated the ratio (SUVr) between the minimum, maximum, and mean SUVs for different organs and tissues and the mean SUV for the liver. Disease activity scores were assessed using Pouchot's criteria. Results: Eighteen patients diagnosed with AOSD and 24 controls (non-AOSD patients diagnosed with solid tumors, excluding lymphomas) were considered. A total of 38 PET/MR and nine PET/CT scans were analyzed. AOSD patients had higher SUVr than controls. All SUVr differed significantly between the patient and control group for bone marrow, and for the spleen, the only difference lacking statistical significance concerned the ratio of the minimum SUV for spleen to the mean SUV for liver. Though limited in number, AOSD responders to therapy showed lower uptakes during the period monitored. No correlations were found between Pouchot's scores and SUVr. Conclusion: Our data revealed higher spleen and bone marrow 18F-FDG uptakes on PET/CT and PET/MR images in AOSD patients than in controls. Together with clinical examinations and laboratory data, PET/CT and PET/MR seemed more reliable than Pouchot's score in assessing disease activity.
ABSTRACT
The aims of the present systematic review were to: (1) assess the role of 18F-fluorocholine (FCH) positron emission tomography (PET) with computed tomography (CT) and PET with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with biochemically known hyperparathyroidism; (2) compare the diagnostic performance of FCH PET/CT or PET/MRI with conventional morphological and functional imaging. A literature search until December 2019 was performed in the PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science databases, using the terms "choline" AND "PET" AND "hyperparathyroidism". The search was conducted with and without the addition of filters (e.g., language: English only; type of article: original article; subjects: humans only) and selecting only articles published in the last 5 years. Twenty-three articles and 1112 patients were considered. Different FCH PET/CT acquisition protocols were adopted across the studies, using dynamic, early or delayed scans. FCH PET/CT proved more accurate than ultrasonography (US) or 99mTc-sestamibi single-photon emission tomography (SPET). PET/MRI also seemed to be more accurate than MRI alone in detecting benign parathyroid lesions. FCH PET/CT is more accurate than conventional morphological and functional imaging modalities (US or SPET) for the detection of benign parathyroid lesions. It could, therefore, be a reliable tool in both primary and recurrent hyperparathyroidism.
