Detection of malignancies with SPECT versus PET, with 2-[fluorine-18]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose.
OBJECTIVE
To compare single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) with 2-[fluorine-18]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) and positron emission tomography (PET) with FDG to evaluate malignancies.


METHODS
PET and SPECT, with fluorine-18 sodium fluoride, were performed sequentially in a cylindric phantom that contained different size spheres with activity ratios of 5:1, 10:1, and 15:1. PET and SPECT were also performed in 24 patients with known or suspected malignancies.


RESULTS
Sensitivities of PET and SPECT were 2,238 cpm/microCi (82.8 cpm/MBq) and 129 cpm/microCi (4.8 cpm/MBq), respectively (reconstructed spatial resolution, 7 and 17 mm, respectively [13-cm radius of rotation]). In the phantom studies, lesions of 1.5 and 1.3 cm or more in diameter were detected with a ratio of 5:1 and 10:1, respectively, and an information density of 150 counts per square centimeter. At FDG PET, 46 hypermetabolic lesions consistent with tumor were depicted in patients; at FDG SPECT, 36 (78%) were depicted. Sensitivity of FDG SPECT was 92% for detection of malignancies 1.8 cm or more in diameter seen at FDG PET.


CONCLUSIONS
Findings at FDG SPECT can help differentiate benign from malignant lesions.
Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232-2675, USA.
W H
WH
Martin
D
D
Delbeke
J A
JA
Patton
M P
MP
Sandler
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003847:Deoxyglucose / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D005260:Female; D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D003847:Deoxyglucose