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Role of 18F-FDG PET/CT in patients affected by Langerhans cell histiocytosis

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Abstract

Purpose

Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare hematological disorder for which the utility of18F-FDG PET/CT is unclear. Our aim was to explore the metabolic features of LCH and the possible role of18F-FDG PET/CT in LCH evaluation.

Materials and methods

We found 17 patients with histologically proven LCH who underwent 1718F-FDG PET/CT scans for staging and 42 scans for restaging/follow-up purposes. PET/CT results were compared with those obtained from other conventional imaging modalities (bone scintigraphy, plain radiogram, computed tomography, magnetic resonance).

Results

18F-FDG PET/CT was positive in 15/17 patients, and it detected 36/37 lesions; all bone and extraskeletal lesions, except for a cecal lesion, were18F-FDG-avid. Only 1/4 of the patients with lung LCH had hypermetabolic lesions. The average SUVmax of the FDG-avid lesions was 7.3 ± 6.7, the average lesion-to-liver SUVmax ratio was 3.4 ± 2.5, and the average lesion-to-blood pool SUVmax ratio was 4 ± 3.2. In comparison to other imaging methods,18F-FDG PET/CT detected additional lesions or was able to evaluate treatment response earlier in 33/74 cases; it was confirmatory in 38/74 and detected fewer lesions in 3/74 (all three with lung LCH).

Conclusions

18F-FDG PET/CT seems to be useful for evaluating LCH when compared to conventional imaging, except in pulmonary cases. It can be used both for staging and restaging purposes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nuclear Medicine, Spedali Civili di Brescia, P. le Spedali Civili, 1, 25123, Brescia, Italy

    Domenico Albano & Giovanni Bosio

  2. Nuclear Medicine, University of Brescia and Spedali Civili Brescia, Brescia, Italy

    Raffaele Giubbini & Francesco Bertagna

Authors
  1. Domenico Albano
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  2. Giovanni Bosio
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  3. Raffaele Giubbini
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  4. Francesco Bertagna
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Correspondence to Domenico Albano.

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The author declares that there is no competing interest.

Ethical approval

This study was approved without the need for individual informed consent by our institutional ethics committee and is in accordance with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments.

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Albano, D., Bosio, G., Giubbini, R. et al. Role of 18F-FDG PET/CT in patients affected by Langerhans cell histiocytosis. Jpn J Radiol 35, 574–583 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11604-017-0668-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11604-017-0668-1

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