Abstract:
Objective This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic value of 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging in primary gallbladder carcinoma cases and compare this diagnostic value with the advantages of enhanced CT, B ultrasound, and MRI scans.
Methods Thirty-eight patients(26 males and 12 females; aged 46 to 82 years, median age = 69 years), who were clinically suspected of gallbladder carcinoma, were examined using PET/CT, CT(both plain and contrast-enhanced) scan, B ultrasound, and MRI diagnoses from March 2006 to December 2011.All of the cases were histopathologically confirmed by biopsy(21 cases) and clinical follow-up(17cases).Among these cases, 35 were primary gallbladder carcinoma and 3 were cholecystitis.The true positive rate(TPR), false positive rate(FPR), true negative rate(TNR), false negative rate(FNR), and diagnostic accuracy rate(DAR) of the four imaging modalities were calculated.
Results All of the 35 gallbladder carcinoma cases showed an increase in 18F-FDG uptake without FNR.The following results were obtained from PET/CT, contrast-enhanced CT, B ultrasound, and MRI diagnoses, respectively(P < 0.05): TPRs = 100%, 74.3%, 60.0%, and 71.4%;FNRs = 0%, 25.7%, 40.0%, and 28.6%;and DARs = 92.1%, 71.1%, 60.5%, and 68.4%.TNRs were 66.7%, 33.3%, and 66.7% in the contrast-enhanced CT, B ultrasound, and MRI diagnoses, respectively, whereas FPRs were 33.3%, 66.7%, and 33.3% in the diagnostic methods.Statistically significant diagnostic results were obtained from PET/CT, enhanced CT scan, B ultrasound, and MRI(P=0.036, 0.002, and 0.019, respectively; P < 0.05.
Conclusion The18F-FDG PET/CT scan is more efficient than the traditional imaging methods, such as contrast-enhanced CT, B ultrasound, and MRI.Thus, this technique can be a useful modality for the diagnosis of gallbladder carcinoma.