BMC Medical Imaging (Jul 2024)

Clinical value of the semi-quantitative parameters of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT in the classification of hepatic echinococcosis in the Qinghai Tibetan area of China

  • Zhihui Shen,
  • Yuan Wang,
  • Xin Chen,
  • Sai Chou,
  • Guanyun Wang,
  • Yong Wang,
  • Xiaodan Xu,
  • Jiajin Liu,
  • Ruimin Wang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12880-024-01371-9
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 24, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

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Abstract Background To investigate the value of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) semi-quantitative parameters, including the lesion diameter, maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), maximum standardized uptake value corrected for lean body mass (SULmax), metabolic lesion volume (MLV), and total lesion glycolysis (TLG), for classifying hepatic echinococcosis. Methods In total, 20 patients with 36 hepatic echinococcosis lesions were included in the study. Overall, these lesions were categorized as hepatic cystic echinococcosis (HCE) or hepatic alveolar echinococcosis (HAE) according to the pathological results. Multiple semi-parameters including the maximum diameter, SUVmax, SULmax, MLV, and TLG were measured to classify HCE and HAE compared with the pathological results. The receiver operator characteristic curve and area under the curve (AUC) of each quantitative parameter were calculated. The Mann–Whitney U test was used to compare data between the two groups. Results In total, 12 cystic lesions and 24 alveolar lesions were identified after surgery. There were significant differences in SUV max, SUL max, MLV, and TLG between the HAE and HCE groups (Z = − 4.70, − 4.77, − 3.36, and − 4.23, respectively, all P 0.05). The best cutoffs of SUV max, SUL max, MLV, and TLG for the differential diagnosis of HAE and HCE were 2.09, 2.67, 27.12, and 18.79, respectively. The AUCs of the four parameters were 0.99, 0.99, 0.85, and 0.94, respectively. The sensitivities were 91.7%, 87.5%, 66.7%, and 85.6%, respectively, and the specificities were 90.1%, 91.7%, 83.3%, and 90.9%, respectively. Conclusion 18F-FDG PET/CT semi-quantitative parameters had significant clinical value in the diagnosis and pathological classification of hepatic echinococcosis and evaluation of clinical treatment.

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