title: [Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma staging: a prospective study of the value of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) versus PET and CT].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To prospectively analyze the diagnostic accuracy of PET/CT in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and to evaluate the most appropriate study protocol of this technique.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-six biopsy proven NHL patients were enrolled in this prospective study for 3 years. Patients initially underwent a low-dose CT without intravenous contrast, then a PET emission scan and finally a full-dose CT with intravenous contrast. For every patient, two modalities of PET/CT images were reconstructed: a low-dose unenhanced PET/CT and a full-dose enhanced PET/CT. Each modality was evaluated by either of two pairs of readers, different for each modality. Enhanced CT and PET images were evaluated by an independent radiologist and nuclear medicine physician respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Agreement between reference standard and techniques was as follows: 52.2% of patients with enhanced CT (κ=0.458), 46% with PET (κ=0.335), 75% with low-dose unenhanced PET/CT (κ=0.664) and 76.8% with full-dose enhanced PET/CT (κ=0.679), with p<0.001. Although all techniques underestimated the stage in comparison to gold standard, the lowest percentage was for full-dose enhanced PET/CT (20.3%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PET/CT improved staging accuracy of NHL, being full-dose enhanced PET/CT the most accurate technique in our study.
authors.affiliation: Osatek, Hospital Txagorritxu, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, España. beatrizrodriguezvigil@yahoo.es
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Vigil Junco
authors.forename: Nieves
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gómez León
authors.forename: Inmaculada
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pinilla Fernández
authors.forename: Lourdes
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: del Campo
authors.forename: Dolores
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hernández Maraver
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Coya
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D001856:Bone Marrow Examination; D003287:Contrast Media; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000097:blood / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D009683:Nuclear Medicine; D015588:Observer Variation; D010808:Physical Examination; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011871:Radiology; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012015:Reference Standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D003287:Contrast Media; D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18