title: Accuracy of 18F fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography in staging of pediatric sarcomas.
abstract: The present study was conducted to clarify the diagnostic accuracy of 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (18FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) in the staging in pediatric sarcomas. Fifty pediatric patients with histologically proven sarcomas who underwent 18FDG PET/CT before treatment were evaluated retrospectively for the detection of nodal and distant metastases. Diagnostic accuracy of 18FDG PET/CT in detecting nodal and distant metastases was compared with that of 18FDG PET and conventional imaging (CI). The images were reviewed and a diagnostic consensus was reached by 3 observers. REFERENCE standard was histologic examination in 15 patients and confirmation of an obvious progression in size of the lesions on follow-up examinations. Nodal metastasis was correctly assessed in 48 patients (96%) with PET/CT, in contrast to 43 patients (86%) with PET, and 46 patients (92%) with CI. Diagnostic accuracies of nodal metastasis in 3 modalities were similar. Using PET/CT, distant metastasis was correctly assigned in 43 patients (86%), whereas interpretation based on PET alone or CI revealed distant metastasis in 33 patients (66%) and 35 patients (70%), respectively. Diagnostic accuracy of distant metastasis with PET/CT was significantly higher than that of PET (P=0.002) or CI (P=0.008). False negative results regarding distant metastasis by PET/CT in 7 patients (14%) were caused by subcentimetric lesions (n=4), bone marrow lesion (n=2), and soft tissue lesions (n=1). PET/CT is more accurate and probably more cost-effective than PET alone or CI regarding distant metastasis in pediatric sarcomas.
authors.affiliation: Division of Diagnostic Radiology, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, and Department of Radiology, Tokai University School of Medicine, Kanagawa, Japan. utateish@ncc.go.jp
authors.forename: Ukihide
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Tateishi
authors.forename: Ako
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hosono
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Makimoto
authors.forename: Aine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sakurada
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Terauchi
authors.forename: Yasuaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Imai
authors.forename: Euishin Edmund
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology