Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 19, 2026
Whole-body PET/MRI of Pediatric Patients: The Details That Matter
Published on: December 19, 2017
The incremental value of 18F-FDG PET/CT in paediatric malignancies
Zvi Bar-Sever1,2, Zohar Keidar3,4, Ayelet Ben-Barak5
1Division of Nuclear Medicine, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, 14 Kaplan Street, Petach-Tikva, 49202, Israel. barsever@clalit.org.il.
Purpose:
(18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) imaging has been used in the assessment of paediatric malignancies. PET/CT increases the diagnostic accuracy in adult cancer patients. The present study assesses the incremental value of FDG PET/CT in paediatric malignancies.
Methods:
A total of 118 (18)FDG PET/CT studies of 46 paediatric patients were reviewed retrospectively. PET and PET/CT results were classified as malignant, equivocal or benign, compared on a site- and study-based analysis, and also compared with the clinical outcome.
Results:
Three hundred and twenty-four sites of increased FDG uptake were detected. Discordant PET and PET/CT interpretations were found in 97 sites (30%) in 27 studies (22%). PET yielded a statistically significant higher proportion of equivocal and a lower proportion of benign lesion and study results (p<0.001) than PET/CT. With PET there were 153 benign (47%), 84 (26%) equivocal and 87 (27%) malignant sites, while PET/CT detected 226 benign (70%), 10 (3%) equivocal and 88 (27%) malignant lesions. PET/CT mainly improved the characterisation of uptake in brown fat (39%), bowel (17%), muscle (8%) and thymus (7%). The study-based analysis showed that 17 equivocal and seven positive PET studies (20%) were interpreted as benign on PET/CT, while three equivocal studies were interpreted as malignant. The study-based sensitivity and specificity of PET/CT were 92% and 78% respectively.
Conclusion:
PET/CT significantly improved the characterisation of abnormal (18)FDG foci in children with cancer, mainly by excluding the presence of active malignancy in sites of increased tracer activity.
More Related Videos
10:28Gene Regulation and Targeted Therapy in Gastric Cancer Peritoneal Metastasis: Radiological Findings from Dual Energy CT and PET/CT
Published on: January 22, 2018
06:51Utilizing 18F-FDG PET/CT Imaging and Quantitative Histology to Measure Dynamic Changes in the Glucose Metabolism in Mouse Models of Lung Cancer
Published on: July 21, 2018
Related Concept Videos
01:29Positron Emission Tomography
One of the main requirements of a PET scan is a positron-emitting radioisotope, which is produced in a cyclotron and then attached to a substance used by the part of the body being...
01:25Imaging Studies II: Positron Emission Tomography and Scintigraphy
Fundamental Principles of PET
01:13Radiological Investigation III: Pulmonary Angiogram and PET Scan
Pulmonary Angiogram
A Pulmonary Angiogram is an invasive procedure involving injecting a contrast medium through a catheter threaded into the pulmonary artery or the right side of the heart to visualize the pulmonary vasculature. Computed Tomography (CT) scans have mainly replaced this...