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Updated: Jun 21, 2026
A Basic Positron Emission Tomography System Constructed to Locate a Radioactive Source in a Bi-dimensional Space
Published on: February 1, 2016
Positron emission tomography for the detection of colorectal adenomas
Davide Ravizza1, Mirco Bartolomei, Luigi Santoro
1European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy. davide.ravizza@ieo.it
Background:
(18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) has been reported to detect colorectal adenomas.
Aims:
This study aimed at evaluating the sensitivity of (18)F-FDG PET with computed tomography image fusion (PET/CT) for detecting colorectal adenomas.
Methods:
We retrospectively compared the results of 92 (18)F-FDG PET/CT studies followed by colonoscopy. Colonoscopy and histology were considered as the gold standard.
Results:
One hundred fifty-seven lesions were observed. All the 12 malignancies were identified by (18)F-FDG PET/CT but only 27 out of 119 resected adenomas (sensitivity 22.7%) and none of the hyperplastic polyps were detected. At the univariate and multivariate analyses there was a significant statistical association between adenomas sized more than 10mm, presence of villous component and high-grade dysplasia and the ability of (18)F-FDG PET/CT to detect adenomas. (18)F-FDG PET/CT showed an overall sensitivity of 29.8%, a specificity of 81.1%, a positive predictive value (PPV) of 84.8% and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 24.6% for the neoplastic colorectal lesions globally considered.
Conclusion:
(18)F-FDG PET/CT has a low sensitivity for detecting adenomas. However, because of the specificity and PPV of the technique for neoplastic colorectal lesions, the presence of a focal colorectal FDG uptake justifies the patient undergoing colonoscopy.
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