Correlation of PET/CT and Image-Guided Biopsies of Pediatric Malignancies.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate an early experience with correlation of PET/CT findings and image-guided biopsy results in pediatric patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a single-center retrospective case series, the inclusion criterion was performance of image-guided biopsy within 6 weeks of PET/CT, either before or after the biopsy. RESULTS: Forty-five patients (23 boys, 22 girls; age range, 4-17 years; median, 10.5 years; weight range, 14.6-86.2 kg; median, 48 kg) underwent 47 PET/CT examinations and biopsies. Nineteen patients (20 biopsies) had known malignancy, and 26 patients had suspected malignancy. The results were malignant in 24 cases, benign in 16, and inadequate or normal in 7 cases. Thirty-nine of 47 PET/CT examinations had positive results, and eight had negative results. Final analysis of 37 of the 47 cases (confounders excluded) showed concordant results between biopsy and PET in 36 cases and discordant results in one case. CONCLUSION: PET/CT can be used for disease staging and follow-up. In the future PET/CT can play a valuable role in directing image-guided biopsies of children.