Positive correlation between serum liver enzyme levels and standard uptake values of liver on FDG-PET.

PURPOSE: The aim of the study is to assess the relationship between serum liver enzyme level, hepatic virus infectious state, and standard uptake value of liver on 2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET). MATERIAL AND METHODS: It is the retrospective review study from September 2005 to September 2007. A total of 354 healthy subjects referred from the Department of Community Medicine and Health Examination Center of our hospital for health screening were reviewed retrospectively and recruited for analysis. Whole-body FDG-PET, serum liver enzyme levels [aspartate aminotransferase (AST) or SGOT and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) or SGPT], and hepatic B (HBV)/hepatic C virus (HCV) infectious states by checking serum antibodies were performed in all subjects. The mean and maximal values of standard uptake values (SUV) of liver were calculated. The relationships between serum liver enzyme levels, hepatic virus infectious states, and standard uptake values of liver on FDG-PET were evaluated. RESULT: There is statistically significant positive correlation between SGOT/SGPT and SUV of liver on FDG-PET. However, there are no significant differences in the SUV of liver on FDG-PET between HBV/HCV infection and nonhepatic virus infection subjects. CONCLUSION: High FDG uptake in the liver because of high level of SGOT/SGPT may lower the diagnostic sensitivity of hepatic malignant or infectious lesions on FDG-PET. For avoiding false-negative findings, careful evaluation of liver on FDG-PET and correlation with other clinical manifestations should be recommended in patients with high level of SGOT/SGPT. Nevertheless, neither HBV/HCV infectious states significantly influences on the SUV of liver on FDG-PET.

Usefulness of FDG-PET to detect recurrent cervical cancer based on asymptomatically elevated tumor marker serum levels--a preliminary report.

This study was to evaluate the clinical impact of whole body positron emission tomography (PET) with 18F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) to detect recurrent cervical cancer based on asymptomatically elevated tumor marker levels. Whole-body FDG-PET was performed in 20 patients with suspected recurrent squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the cervix and asymptomatic tumor marker of SCC antigen increased serum levels but negative or equivocal other imaging modality results. All of these 20 asymptomatic patients have serum levels of SCC antigen > 1.5 ng/mL. The final diagnosis of recurrent cervical cancer was established by operation/biopsy histopathological findings or clinical follow-up after more than 1 year by additional morphological imaging techniques. Among the 20 patients, the final diagnosis of recurrent cervical cancer was established in 81 lesions of 19 patients. The FDG-PET accurately detected 78/81 lesions. With asymptomatically elevated SCC antigen serum levels, the diagnostic sensitivity and accuracy of FDG-PET to detect recurrent cervical cancer lesions were 97.5% and 94.0%, respectively. The FDG-PET is a useful technique to detect recurrent cervical cancer for patients with asymptomatically elevated SCC antigen serum levels.

Detection of recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinomas with technetium-99m methoxyisobutylisonitrile single photon emission computed tomography in patients with indeterminate magnetic resonance imaging findings after radiotherapy.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of technetium-99m methoxyisobutylisonitrile (Tc-99m MIBI) single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) for detecting recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPCs) when magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings are indeterminate. Twenty-eight NPC patients who had received radiotherapy and had indeterminate MRI findings were included in the study. We performed MRI, Tc-99m MIBI SPECT, and biopsy at least 4 months after radiotherapy and within 1 week. The final results were based on histopathologic findings and clinical follow-up after 6 or more months. For detecting recurrent NPC in indeterminate MRI findings, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of Tc-99m MIBI SPECT were 85.7%, 92.9%, and 89.3%, respectively. Our findings suggest that Tc-99m MIBI SPECT may be an effective tool for detecting recurrent NPC when MRI findings are indeterminate.