Oncological diagnosis using positron coincidence gamma camera with fluorodeoxyglucose in comparison with dedicated PET

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the utility of a dual-head positron coincidence detection gamma camera (PCD) with that of dedicated positron emission tomography (PET) in the imaging of various malignancies using (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). 25 patients with known or suspected malignancies at various sites underwent imaging with both methods, and diagnostic performance on a lesion basis was compared. Tumour lesions were analyzed visually and semi-quantitatively using the ratio of tumour-to-background counts (T/B ratio). FDG PCD and FDG PET visually detected 34 (72.3%) lesions and 37 (78.7%) lesions, respectively. The mean T/B ratio and standard deviation (SD) of FDG PCD was 3.5+/-3.3, significantly lower than that of FDG PET (8.4+/-7.1, p<0.001). When tumour lesions were less than 2.0 cm in diameter, the sensitivity of FDG PCD was 37.5%, significantly inferior to that of FDG PET (50.0%, p<0.01). Sensitivity between FDG PCD and FDG PET in lesions of more than 2.0 cm diameter showed no statistically significant difference. This study indicates that FDG imaging with a dual-head coincidence detection gamma camera can provide suitable diagnostic performance for lesions greater than 2.0 cm diameter, but performed significantly worse than dedicated PET for lesions smaller than this.