Role of FDG PET-CT in recurrent renal cell carcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the efficacy of positron emission tomography-computed tomography using F-18 fluoro-deoxy-glucose (F-18 FDG PET-CT) in diagnosing the recurrence of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in patients treated earlier with partial or radical nephrectomy.


METHODS
We assessed 63 patients with suspected recurrent RCC after nephrectomy. PET-CT findings were interpreted as positive if the focal area of FDG uptake in the abdomen or outside the abdomen was more than the surrounding background tissue. The final diagnosis of the recurrence of RCC was based on histological examination and/or clinical follow-up and conventional imaging modalities.


RESULTS
A total of 103 PET-CT studies were done in these 63 patients, of which 63 studies were true positive, 30 studies were true negative, seven studies were false negative and remaining three studies were false positive. In 63 true-positive scans, PET-CT showed 109 lesions. Of these, 28 lesions were in the lungs, 21 lesions were at a locoregional site, 21 were in the bones, 12 in the retroperitoneal lymph nodes and 27 at other sites. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of PET-CT were 90, 91 and 90%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results seem to confirm the useful role of PET-CT in the evaluation of post-surgical recurrence in patients who had undergone radical surgery for RCC.
Kumar
Rakesh
R
Department of Nuclear Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. rkphulia@yahoo.com
Shandal
Varun
V
Shamim
Shamim Ahmed
SA
Jeph
Sunil
S
Singh
Harmandeep
H
Malhotra
Arun
A
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009392:Nephrectomy; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D055815:Young Adult
D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18