[18F]Fluorodeoxyglucose ([18F]FDG) positron emission tomography and conventional imaging modalities in the diagnosis of diabetic foot osteomyelitis: a meta-analysis

Abstract

This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the comparative diagnostic efficacy of [18F]Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography ([18F]FDG PET) and conventional imaging, MRI, and white blood cell (WBC) scintigraphy in detecting foot osteomyelitis among diabetic patients. An exhaustive search was conducted within the PubMed and Embase databases to identify publications available up until February 2024. Studies were included if they evaluated the diagnostic efficacy of [18F]FDG PET or the comparative diagnostic performance between PET and (MRI or WBC scintigraphy). Two researchers independently assessed the quality of the included studies, utilizing the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Performance Studies (QUADAS-2) tool. Nine retrospective or prospective studies involving 605 patients were included in the meta-analysis. For [18F]FDG PET, the overall sensitivity was 0.83(95% CI: 0.69-0.94), while the overall specificity was 0.92(95% CI: 0.86-0.97). In the head-to-head comparison, no significant difference of sensitivity was found between [18F]FDG PET and MRI (0.72 vs. 0.68, P=0.81), as well as between [18F]FDG PET and WBC scintigraphy (0.57 vs. 0.66, P=0.64). In addition, specificity was also found to be no significant difference between [18F]FDG PET and MRI (0.90 vs. 0.82, P=0.27), as well as [18F]FDG PET and WBC scintigraphy (0.81 vs. 0.93, P=0.09). [18F]FDG PET demonstrates similar sensitivity and specificity to MRI and WBC scintigraphy in detecting foot osteomyelitis among diabetic patients. MRI, often cited as a primary choice in guidelines, might be preferred due to its lower cost and lower dose. Further larger sample prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings.