Baseline SUV Range for Liver and Blood Pool in Patients Undergoing F-18 Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography

Abstract

Introduction:The aim of the study was to define the baseline SUVmax range in the liver and blood pool of patients undergoing fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) imaging.Methods:Five hundred and thirty-one patients (264 females, 267 males; mean age: 59.6±13.4 years) who were admitted to our department for PET/CT imaging before treatment were included in the study. Patient preparation, acquisition parameters and reconstruction protocols were standardized for all patients prior to PET/CT imaging. The mean serum glucose levels and mean age of the patients were calculated. These patients were divided into 10 groups as esophagus, stomach, colon, rectum, larynx, lung, breast, endometrium, ovarian cancers and lymphoma. 2D region of interests were plotted to calculate the mean SUV values in the right lobe of the liver and the aortic arch for the blood pool.Results:Normal Gaussian distributions of mean SUV changes for liver and blood pool were obtained. Mean SUVmax and SUVmean values for liver were 2.73±0.22 and 2.34±0.16, respectively, and 1.80±0.2 and 1.57±0.14 for blood pool, respectively.Conclusion:It was concluded that the obtained SUV ranges may provide ease of application in the clinic in evaluating qualitative tumor response and comparing tumor/background ratios in cancer patients.

Keywords

• pet/ct
• suv measurement
• tumor background ratio