Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 12, 2026

Functional Imaging of Brown Fat in Mice with 18F-FDG micro-PET/CT
Published on: November 23, 2012
Functional visceral fat activity evaluated by preoperative F-18 FDG PET/CT predicts regional lymph node metastasis in
Kisoo Pahk1, Sunju Choi1, Sungeun Kim1
1Department of Nuclear Medicine, Korea University Anam Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
Objective:
We investigated the predictive role of functional visceral fat activity evaluated by preoperative F-18 FDG PET/CT for regional lymph node metastasis in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer.
Design And Patients:
Fifty-eight patients with newly diagnosed differentiated thyroid cancer were enrolled in this study, retrospectively (men 14; women 44; age 53 ± 14.5). They all received preoperative F-18 FDG PET/CT and surgery. Functional visceral fat activity was defined as maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of visceral fat divided by SUVmax of subcutaneous fat (V/S ratio). Pathology results were confirmed through the surgical specimens.
Results:
The patients with regional lymph node metastasis showed higher functional visceral fat activity (V/S ratio) than the patients without regional lymph node metastasis (2.12 ± 0.6 vs 1.62 ± 0.34, P = .001). V/S ratio of 1.78 was suggested as an optimal cut-off value for predicting regional lymph node metastasis (sensitivity; 70.3%, specificity; 83.3%, area under the curve; 0.778, P < .0001). Furthermore, functional visceral fat activity was significantly associated with regional lymph node metastasis in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer by univariate and multivariate analyses.
Conclusions:
Functional visceral fat activity significantly affects the regional lymph node metastasis status in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer. Furthermore, it may also be useful to predict regional lymph node metastasis.
More Related Videos
10:30Whole Body and Regional Quantification of Active Human Brown Adipose Tissue Using 18F-FDG PET/CT
Published on: April 1, 2019
10:04Analysis of 18FDG PET/CT Imaging as a Tool for Studying Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection and Treatment in Non-human Primates
Published on: September 5, 2017
Related Concept Videos
Detailed Structure and Function of Lymph Nodes
From a histological perspective, lymph nodes can be split into two main areas: the superficial cortex and the deep medulla. The outer cortex is populated by dendritic cells, macrophages, and B lymphocytes, which are densely packed into follicles. When these B-lymphocytes are presented...
Functions of Thyroid Hormones
TH is indispensable for the normal development and maturation of the skeletal, muscular, and nervous systems during fetal and childhood growth. It facilitates bone mineral turnover and regulates protein synthesis in developing tissues, contributing significantly to overall growth and...
B Cell Activation and Differentiation
When naive B cells encounter a specific antigen that can bind to the B cell receptor (BCR) on their surface, they undergo sensitization to respond to the antigen's presence. Sensitization begins with...
Metastasis
Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition
The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition or EMT is a developmental process commonly observed in wound healing, embryogenesis, and cancer metastasis. EMT is induced by transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) or receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) ligands, which further...
The Thyroid Gland
The follicles have a central cavity lined by simple cuboidal to squamous epithelial cells called follicular cells. These cells produce the glycoprotein...
Predicting Molecular Geometry