Accuracy of 18F fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography in staging of pediatric sarcomas

The present study was conducted to clarify the diagnostic accuracy of 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (18FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) in the staging in pediatric sarcomas. Fifty pediatric patients with histologically proven sarcomas who underwent 18FDG PET/CT before treatment were evaluated retrospectively for the detection of nodal and distant metastases. Diagnostic accuracy of 18FDG PET/CT in detecting nodal and distant metastases was compared with that of 18FDG PET and conventional imaging (CI). The images were reviewed and a diagnostic consensus was reached by 3 observers. REFERENCE standard was histologic examination in 15 patients and confirmation of an obvious progression in size of the lesions on follow-up examinations. Nodal metastasis was correctly assessed in 48 patients (96%) with PET/CT, in contrast to 43 patients (86%) with PET, and 46 patients (92%) with CI. Diagnostic accuracies of nodal metastasis in 3 modalities were similar. Using PET/CT, distant metastasis was correctly assigned in 43 patients (86%), whereas interpretation based on PET alone or CI revealed distant metastasis in 33 patients (66%) and 35 patients (70%), respectively. Diagnostic accuracy of distant metastasis with PET/CT was significantly higher than that of PET (P=0.002) or CI (P=0.008). False negative results regarding distant metastasis by PET/CT in 7 patients (14%) were caused by subcentimetric lesions (n=4), bone marrow lesion (n=2), and soft tissue lesions (n=1). PET/CT is more accurate and probably more cost-effective than PET alone or CI regarding distant metastasis in pediatric sarcomas.