Differential diagnostic value of ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT in pulmonary carcinoids versus hamartomas

To assess the possibility of differentiating pulmonary carcinoids from hamartomas and typical from atypical carcinoids by means of ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT.

We retrospectively reviewed 139 patients with pathologically proven pulmonary carcinoids and hamartomas who underwent ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT before surgical resection. Receiver operating characteristics curves were calculated to determine the potential of SUVmax to discriminate between pulmonary carcinoids and hamartomas, typical and atypical carcinoids. The correlation between SUVmax and tumor size was analyzed by Spearman correlation analysis.

SUVmax was significantly higher in pulmonary carcinoids than in hamartomas (p<0.001), and also higher in atypical carcinoids than in typical carcinoids (p = 0.034). With a SUVmax of 2.0 as a cutoff, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT to differentiate pulmonary carcinoids from hamartomas were 85.3%, 82.9%, 61.7%, and 94.6%, respectively. The cutoff value of SUVmax for differentiating atypical carcinoids from typical carcinoids was 4.1. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve of SUVmax was 0.900 for carcinoids and hamartomas, and 0.722 for typical and atypical carcinoids. SUVmax was correlated with maximum tumor size in pulmonary carcinoids (r = 0.658, p <0.001) and in pulmonary hamartomas (r = 0.672, p <0.001).

¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT might be a useful tool in the differential diagnosis of carcinoids and hamartomas, and can also distinguish atypical from typical carcinoids. This may facilitate improved selection of patients for surgical resection and radiological follow-up.