title: Diagnostic accuracy of fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in gallbladder cancer: A meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To meta-analyze published data about the diagnostic accuracy of fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) and PET/computed tomography (PET/CT) in the evaluation of primary tumor in patients with gallbladder cancer (GBCa).
  
  
  METHODS
  A comprehensive literature search of studies published through 30(th) June 2014 regarding the role of (18)F-FDG PET and PET/CT in the evaluation of primary gallbladder cancer (GBCa) was performed. All retrieved studies were reviewed. Pooled sensitivity and specificity of (18)F-FDG PET or PET/CT in the evaluation of primary GBCa were calculated. The area under the summary receiving operator characteristics curve (AUC) was calculated to measure the accuracy of these methods. Sub-analyses considering the device used (PET vs PET/CT) were carried out.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-one studies comprising 495 patients who underwent (18)F-FDG PET or PET/CT for suspicious GBCa were selected for the systematic review. The meta-analysis of 13 selected studies provided the following results: sensitivity 87% (95%CI: 82%-92%), specificity 78% (95%CI: 68%-86%). The AUC was 0.88. Improvement of sensitivity and specificity was observed when PET/CT was used.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  (18)F-FDG-PET and PET/CT demonstrated to be useful diagnostic imaging methods in the assessment of primary tumor in GBCa patients, nevertheless possible sources of false-negative and false-positive results should be kept in mind. PET/CT seems to have a better diagnostic accuracy than PET alone in this setting.
authors.affiliation: Salvatore Annunziata, Daniele Antonio Pizzuto, Carmelo Caldarella, Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Bioimaging and Radiological Sciences, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 00168 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Annunziata
authors.affiliation: Salvatore Annunziata, Daniele Antonio Pizzuto, Carmelo Caldarella, Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Bioimaging and Radiological Sciences, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 00168 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniele Antonio
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Pizzuto
authors.affiliation: Salvatore Annunziata, Daniele Antonio Pizzuto, Carmelo Caldarella, Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Bioimaging and Radiological Sciences, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 00168 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Carmelo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Caldarella
authors.affiliation: Salvatore Annunziata, Daniele Antonio Pizzuto, Carmelo Caldarella, Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Bioimaging and Radiological Sciences, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 00168 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Galiandro
authors.affiliation: Salvatore Annunziata, Daniele Antonio Pizzuto, Carmelo Caldarella, Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Bioimaging and Radiological Sciences, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 00168 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Ramin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sadeghi
authors.affiliation: Salvatore Annunziata, Daniele Antonio Pizzuto, Carmelo Caldarella, Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Bioimaging and Radiological Sciences, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 00168 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Treglia
mesh_terms: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D005706:Gallbladder Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
keywords: Fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose; Gallbladder cancer; Positron emission tomography; Positron emission tomography/computed tomography