title: [Variations of the hepatic SUV in relation to the body mass index in whole body PET-CT studies].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate SUV changes in the liver in relation to body mass index (BMI) of patients who undergo whole body PET-CT scans.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective study was performed. The variables studied were injected dose of (18F)FDG (mCi), age (years), blood glucose level (mg/dL), height (cm) and weight (kg). BMI was calculated and the SUV mean value was expressed according to gender and BMI. A linear regression analysis was applied to identify the independent variables that best predict the SUV value.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Six hundred and three patients were studied (305 women, 298 men; mean age: 54.9±15.2 years old). Mean SUV measurement was significantly higher in males than females and increased significantly both in male and female patients who were overweight and even more in obese patients. The independent variables that best predicted the SUV value were gender, age, and BMI. In those patients having similar characteristics related to the analyzed variables, the SUV value increased by 0.002 for each increase in one year, and by 0.066 per unit increase in the BMI value.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Hepatic uptake of (18F)FDG increases according to the patient's BMI. The independent variables that best predict the hepatic SUV value are age and sex of patients. Our findings show that the practice of using the physiological hepatic metabolic activity level as a reference regarding questionable deposits elsewhere in the abdomen and pelvis is not useful, at least in male patients with overweightness and obesity.
authors.affiliation: Diagnóstico Médico Oroño, Rosario, Argentina. batalless@icronline.com
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Batallés
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Villavicencio
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Quaranta
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Burgos
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Trezzo
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Staffieri
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Pezzotto
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D064847:Multimodal Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D051598:Whole Body Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18