Dexamethasone suppression for ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT to localize ACTH-secreting pituitary tumors

¹⁸Fluorine-Fluoro-deoxy-glucose (¹⁸F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) is widely used for diagnosing various malignant tumors and evaluating metabolic activities. Although the usefulness of ¹⁸F-FDG PET has been reported in several endocrine diseases, studies on pituitary disease are extremely limited. To evaluate whether dexamethasone (DEX) suppression can improve ¹⁸F-FDG PET for the localization of adrenocorticotropic hormone-secreting adenomas in the pituitary gland in Cushing's disease (CD).

We included 22 patients with CD who underwent PET imaging before and after DEX administration. We compared the success rates of PET before and after DEX suppression, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and bilateral inferior petrosal sinus sampling (BIPSS). We determined the final locations of adenomas based on intraoperative multiple-staged resection and tumor tissue identification using frozen sections. Standardized uptake value (SUV) were analyzed to confirm the change of intensity of adenomas on PET.

Twenty-two patients were included (age at diagnosis: 37 [13-56] years), and most were women (90.91%). Pituitary adenomas compared to normal pituitaries showed increased maximum SUV after DEX suppression but without statistical significance (1.13 versus. 1.21, z=-0.765, P = 0.444). After DEX suppression, the mean and maximum SUV of adenomas showed a positive correlation with nadir cortisol levels in high-dose DEX suppression test (Rho = 0.554, P = 0.007 and Rho = 0.503, P = 0.017, respectively). In reference sites, mean SUV of cerebellum was significantly decreased (7.65 vs. 6.40, P = 0.006^*), but those of the thalamus and gray matter was increased after DEX suppression (thalamus, 8.70 vs. 11.20, P = 0.010^*; gray matter, 6.25 vs. 7.95, P = 0.010^*).

DEX suppression did not improve ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT localization in patients with CD.