title: 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in management of pancreatic cystic tumors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effectiveness of PET in differentiating malignant from benign pancreatic cystic tumors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between 2009 and 2010, all patients with pancreatic cystic tumors who had PET, triple phase contrast computed tomography (CT) and endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) were reviewed. Clinicopathological characteristics and final histology were correlated with preoperative PET, CT and EUS to assess the value of each modality in detecting malignant from benign lesions for clinical decision-making.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty of a total of 116 patients with pancreatic cystic tumors had 18F-FDG PET because of diagnostic difficulties after evaluation with conventional modalities. Sensitivity and specificity of PET in differentiating malignant from benign pancreatic cystic tumors were 100% and 93.75%, with an accuracy of 95%. PET had the best sensitivity, specificity and accuracy for detecting malignant cystic tumors compared with CT and EUS. In 5 cases, the PET results altered the treatment options completely to follow-up instead of surgery (n=2), limited resection instead of Whipple's resection (n=1), and surgery instead of follow-up (n=2).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PET is an accurate, non-invasive method to distinguish malignant from benign pancreatic cystic tumors and can be used as an adjunct to facilitate clinical decision making.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Cancer, HPB Surgical Unit, Hammersmith Hospital campus, Imperial College, Du Cane Road, W12 0HS London, UK.
authors.forename: Yaojun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Adam E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Frampton
authors.forename: Jack L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Charis
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kyriakides
authors.forename: Jan Jin
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Bong
authors.forename: Nagy A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Habib
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vlavianos
authors.forename: Long R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Jiao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010181:Pancreatic Cyst / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000628:therapy*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18