title: 2-deoxy-2-[F-18]fluoro-D-glucose imaging with positron emission tomography for initial staging of Hodgkin's disease and lymphoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the accuracy of 2-Deoxy-2-[F-18] Fluoro-D-Glucose positron emission imaging (FDG-PET) for staging Hodgkin's disease (HD) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) compared to conventional staging (CS) and to evaluate the impact on patient management.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-five consecutive patients with lymphoma underwent whole-body FDG-PET imaging for initial staging. Discordant lesions were verified with biopsy or clinical follow-up. The impact on staging and management was reviewed retrospectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 129 sites of disease were identified, and 88 of those were concordant. FDG-PET and conventional staging demonstrated 24 and 17 additional sites, respectively. FDG-PET correctly upstaged five patients and down-staged two patients (16% total), leading to a change in therapy in 6/45 (13%) patients. However, FDG-PET understaged three patients (7%), correctly staged by conventional staging modalities. Assuming that the addition of FDG-PET to conventional staging modalities is 100% accurate for staging lymphoma, the accuracy of FDG-PET alone was 91%, compared to 84% for conventional staging modalities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  FDG-PET is a noninvasive and efficient imaging modality for staging patients with lymphoma and should be used in conjunction with conventional staging modalities, as they appear complementary.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Delbeke
authors.forename: William H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.forename: Marsha C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Kinney
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Feurer
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kovalsky
authors.forename: Ted
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Arrowsmith
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Greer