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Usefulness of 201 TL SPECT/CT relative to 18 F‐FDG PET/CT in detecting recurrent skull base nasopharyngeal carcinoma
Author(s) -
Yen RuohFang,
Ting LaiLei,
Cheng MeiFang,
Wu YenWen,
Tzen KaiYuan,
Hong RueyLong
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
head and neck
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.012
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1097-0347
pISSN - 1043-3074
DOI - 10.1002/hed.21026
Subject(s) - nuclear medicine , medicine , lesion , nasopharyngeal carcinoma , positron emission tomography , single photon emission computed tomography , radiology , radiation therapy , pathology
Background This study was designed to compare 201 Tl single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/CT with 18‐fluoro‐2‐deoxyglucose ( 18 F‐FDG) PET/CT in diagnosing recurrent skull base nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods Twenty‐seven patients were recruited. Both 201 Tl SPECT/CT and 18 F‐FDG PET/CT for each patient were performed at least 4 months later after initial therapy. Results The sensitivity and specificity for 201 Tl SPECT/CT were 66.7% and 100%, and those for 18 F‐FDG PET/CT were 86.7% and 75.0%. Lesion/background ratios were obtained for the 10 lesions that were both SPECT and PET true positive. For the 8 patients with recurrences in nasopharyngeal regions, PET lesion/background ratios were all higher than SPECT lesion/background ratios. For the 2 patients with intracranial metastases, SPECT lesion/background ratios were higher than PET lesion/background ratios. Conclusion 201 Tl SPECT/CT is as effective as 18 F‐FDG PET/CT in detecting recurrent NPC. For intracranial recurrence, 201 Tl SPECT, because of its high intracranial lesion/background ratio, is probably better than 18 F‐FDG PET. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2009