Open AccessConspicuity of Malignant Lesions on PET/CT and Simultaneous Time-Of-Flight PET/MRI
Author(s) -
Ryogo Minamimoto,
Andrei Iagaru,
Mehran Jamali,
Dawn Holley,
Amir Barkhodari,
Shreyas S. Vasanawala,
Greg Zaharchuk
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0167262
Subject(s) - medicine , nuclear medicine , pet ct , positron emission tomography , radiology , malignancy , magnetic resonance imaging , standardized uptake value , pathology
Purpose To compare the conspicuity of malignant lesions between FDG PET/CT and a new simultaneous, time-of-flight (TOF) enabled PET/MRI scanner. Methods All patients underwent a single-injection of FDG, followed by a dual imaging protocol consisting of PET/CT followed by TOF PET/MRI. PET/CT and PET/MRI images were evaluated by two readers independently for areas of FDG uptake compatible with malignancy, and then categorized into 5 groups (1: PET/MRI and PET/CT positive; 2: PET/MRI positive, PET/CT positive in retrospect; 3: PET/CT positive, PET/MRI positive in retrospect; 4: PET/MRI positive, PET/CT negative; 5: PET/MRI negative, PET/CT positive) by consensus. Patients with no lesions on either study or greater than 10 lesions based on either modality were excluded from the study. Results Fifty-two patients (mean±SD age: 58±14 years) underwent the dual imaging protocol; of these, 29 patients with a total of 93 FDG-avid lesions met the inclusion criteria. The majority of lesions (56%) were recorded prospectively in the same location on PET/CT and PET/MRI. About an equal small fraction of lesions were seen on PET/CT but only retrospectively on PET/MRI (9%) and vice versa (12%). More lesions were identified only on PET/MRI but not on PET/CT, even in retrospect (96% vs. 81%, respectively; p = 0.003). Discrepant lesions had lower maximum standardized uptake value (SUV max ) than concordant lesions on both modalities (p<0.001). Conclusions While most lesions were identified prospectively on both modalities, significantly more lesions were identified with PET/MRI than with PET/CT.