title: Emerging role of whole-body 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography as a marker of disease activity in patients with sarcoidosis: a systematic review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was designed to systematically review the emerging role of whole-body positron emission tomography (PET) with 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) in patients with sarcoidosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  A comprehensive literature search of published studies through December 2010 in PubMed/MEDLINE and Embase databases regarding whole-body FDG-PET and PET/CT in patients with sarcoidosis was performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ultimately, we identified nine studies comprising a total of 379 patients with sarcoidosis. Main findings of the included studies are presented.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  from this systematic review we can summarize that: (1) positive FDG-PET findings should be interpreted with caution in differentiating sarcoidosis from other inflammatory diseases and malignant abnormalities; (2) FDG-PET seems to be a very useful molecular imaging method in assessing disease activity, in staging and identifying occult sites, and in monitoring treatment response in patients with sarcoidosis; (3) FDG-PET shows a better diagnostic accuracy compared to 67Ga scintigraphy in patients with sarcoidosis, because of a better sensitivity of FDG-PET (mainly due to the high quality of FDG-PET images with superior contrast and spatial resolution compared to 67Ga scintigraphy) in addition to several practical advantages (less radiation exposure, shorter time between injection and imaging).
authors: Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Bioimages and Radiological Sciences, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy. giorgiomednuc@libero.it
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Treglia
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Taralli
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Giordano
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012507:Sarcoidosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000628:therapy; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D051598:Whole Body Imaging
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18