[Inflammatory syndrome of unknown origin and PET/CT: Economic and iatrogenic impacts of false positive]. / Syndrome inflammatoire inexpliqué et TEP/CT : impacts économiques et iatrogènes des faux positifs.
Rev Med Interne
; 2023 Nov 23.
Article
in Fr
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38000918
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
PET/CT is regularly used to investigate inflammatory syndrome of unknown origin (IUO), but hypermetabolisms found are not always consistent with the final diagnosis. The objective of the study was to assess the cost attributed to the diagnostic work-up for these false positives. MATERIALS ANDMETHODS:
We conducted an ancillary study on a previous retrospective cohort from the internal medicine department at Amiens university hospital in patients who had a PET/CT scan between October 2004 and April 2017. Patients were included if PET/CT had been prescribed to investigate IUO. Among the 763 PET/CT performed, 144 met the inclusion criteria and a false-positive rate of 17.4% (n=25) was reported.RESULTS:
Among these 25 patients, 21 underwent further investigations. The most frequently found hypermetabolic territories were digestive (n=12, mean SUVmax 8 [±4.33]) and osteoarticular (n=11, mean SUVmax 4.33 [±1.15]). The total cost of the 13 prescribed consultations was 390, the total cost of the 40 additional tests was 4,476 (mainly digestive endoscopies and radiological tests) and the total cost of medical transport was 572. The total cost of the 35 days of hospitalization specifically required to investigate these false positives was 22,952. In 23.8% (n=5), these investigations led to the incidental discovery of tumor lesions.CONCLUSION:
The economic impact of false-positive PET/CT results does not appear to be negligible and merits a genuine prospective medico-economic study.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Language:
Fr
Journal:
Rev Med Interne
Year:
2023
Document type:
Article