The Clinical Significance of Incidental GIT Uptake on PET/CT: Radiologic, Endoscopic, and Pathologic Correlation

Abstract

Incidental gastrointestinal tract (GIT) [18F]-Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake in positron emission technology/computed tomography (PET/CT) is an unexpected and often complicated finding for clinicians. This retrospective study reviewed 8991 charts of patients who underwent PET/CT: 440 patients had incidental GIT uptake, of which 80 underwent endoscopy. Patient characteristics, imaging parameters, and endoscopic findings were studied. Of the 80 patients, 31 had cancer/pre-cancer lesions (16 carcinomas; 15 pre-malignant polyps). Compared to patients with benign/absent lesions, patients with cancer/pre-cancer lesions were significantly older (p = 0.01), underwent PET/CT for primary evaluation/staging of cancer (p = 0.03), had focal GIT uptake (p = 0.04), and had lower GIT uptake (p = 0.004). Among patients with focal uptake, an SUVmax of 9.2 had the highest sensitivity (0.76) and specificity (0.885) in detecting cancer/pre-cancerous lesions. Lower GIT uptake was most common in the sigmoid colon, and upper GIT uptake was most frequent in the stomach. In a bivariate analysis, predictors of cancer/pre-cancer were older age, PET/CT indicated for primary evaluation, focal uptake, uptake in the lower GIT, and higher SUVmax. Further endoscopic investigation is warranted for patients with incidental GIT uptake, especially in the elderly or those presenting for primary evaluation with PET/CT, with the following findings on imaging: lower GIT uptake, focal uptake, or high SUVmax.