[The usefulness of FDG-PET in patients with cervical lymphadenopathy].

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To assess the usefulness of 2-(fluorine-18) fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) in patients with cervical lymphadenopathy. METHODS: From March 1999 to October 2001, 27 patients with cervical lymphadenopathy were imaged with FDG-PET. Maximum and mean standard uptake value (SUVmax and SUVmean) of lymphadenopathy and SUV of normal cervical tissue (SUVneck) were measured. All 21 patients with malignant lymphadenopathy got pathologically confirmed. RESULTS: All 26 malignant lymph nodes in 21 patients could be detected by FDG-PET. FDG uptake of these nodes was higher than that of cervical tissue (SUVmax, SUVmean and SUVneck were 4.62 +/- 2.31, 3.45 +/- 2.74 and 0.55 +/- 0.08, respectively P < 0.001). Other 9 benign lymph nodes in 6 patients couldn't be detected by FDG-PET. The accuracy of PET in 21 patients with malignant lymphadenopathy, was higher than those of routine examinations such as ultrasonography plus CT or MR (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: FDG-PET allows effective diagnosis of patients with cervical lymphadenopathy and can contribute substantially to patient care.