Abstract
Objective: Relation between patient age and Hounsfield Unit (HU),which is the linear attenuation coefficient, and Standardized Uptake Values (SUV) which is the amount of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (F-18 FDG) uptake, measured in the areas of interest drawn to prostate, seminal vesicles and testicles in F-18 FDG Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (PET/CT) images was investigated.Material and Methods: Mean and maximum SUV and HU values were recorded from the areas of interest (min 12 mm in diameter) which showed FDG uptake in prostate, seminal vesicles and testicles from F-18 FDG PET-CT images of 21 male patients under 40 years without genitourinary cancer. The effect of patient age to SUV and HU values was examined with Pearson correlation test using SPSS program.Results: There was a negative insignificant correlation between patient age and SUV and HU values for prostate. For seminal vesicles, correlation between patient age and SUV values and HUmax were positive but insignificant, while correlation with HUmean was significant (r=0.459, p=0.00). Correlation between patient age and SUVmax and SUVmean values were significant for testicles (r=0.506, p=0.002 and r=0.467, p=0.005, respectively) but the correlation between patient age and HUmax and HUmean values was not significant.Conclusion: F-18 FDG uptake in testicles in males increases with age until 40, suggesting an increase in metabolic rate. The significant correlation between age and mean HU values is probably caused by thickening of the tissue without an increase in glucose metabolism in seminal vesicles. In prostate, the effect of patient age to SUV and HU values was not observed until the age 40. Conflict of interest:None declared.
Highlights
Integrated Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (PET/CT) allows morphological and functional imaging in a single imaging process by combining PET and CT in a single device and is an important diagnostic imaging tool for the identification, localization and characterization of different group of malignancies (1).Determination of the characteristics of the lesions can be made by examining the Standardized Uptake Value (SUV) and Hounsfield Unit (HU) values in integrated PET/CT systems
(2) We aimed to investigate the relation between patient age and Hounsfield Unit (HU) and SUV values measured in the areas of interest drawn to prostate, seminal vesicles and testicles, where sometimes high uptake is observed in F18 FDG PET/CT images
Mean SUVmax and SUVmean, mean HUmax and HUmean values obtained from the areas of interest are shown in the Table 1
Summary
Determination of the characteristics of the lesions can be made by examining the Standardized Uptake Value (SUV) and Hounsfield Unit (HU) values in integrated PET/CT systems. It is important to know the value of the normal tissues for appropriate evaluation of pathology. Uptake of F 18 Fluorodeoxyglucose (F-18 FDG) is frequently observed in varying degrees in the male genitourinary structures and sometimes physiological uptake is confused with pathology. Physiological uptake and the tissue density in genitourinary structures may be expected to change with age, associated to metabolic and histological changes due to maturing and aging. (2) We aimed to investigate the relation between patient age and Hounsfield Unit (HU) and SUV values measured in the areas of interest drawn to prostate, seminal vesicles and testicles, where sometimes high uptake is observed in F18 FDG PET/CT images. Primary diagnosis of patients were as follows: NonHodgkin’s lymphoma (n=2), osteosarcoma (n=1), lymphoblastic lymphoma (n=1), sarcomatoid carcinoma (n=1), mixed germ cell tumor (n=1), germ cell tumor (n=1), anaplastic large cell lymphoma (n=2), leimyosarcoma (n=1), Hodgkin’s lymphoma (n=3), metastatic tumor (n=1), hamartoma (n=1), paraneoplastic syndrome (n=1), soft tissue sarcoma (n=1), stomach cancer (n=1), malign mesenchymal tumor (n=1), Kaposi's sarcoma (n=1) and diffuse large B cell lymphoma (n=1)
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