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Prevalence and clinical significance of incidental F18-FDG breast uptake: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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Abstract

This review aims to analyse the published data on the prevalence and clinical significance of breast incidental F18-FDG uptake detected by PET or PET/CT (BIU). A comprehensive computer literature search of the PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus and Embase databases for studies on BIU published through July 2013 was performed. Pooled prevalence and malignancy risk of BIU were calculated. The literature search revealed 42 articles, and 17 were selected. One study was excluded because of data overlap but four additional studies were found screening the references. Finally, 20 articles were included in the systematic review and 13 were eligible for a meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of BIU on all scans was 0.4 % (95 % CI 0.23–0.61 %), the pooled prevalence on scans on female patients only was 0.82 % (95 % CI 0.51–1.2 %), the pooled risk of malignancy of BIU when further analysed was 48 % (95 % CI 38–58 %) and the pooled risk of malignancy of BIU with histological examination was 60 % (95 % CI 53–66 %). The most frequent malignant lesion detected was infiltrating ductal carcinoma. Despite being rare, the identification of BIU frequently signals the presence of an unsuspected subclinical lesion, which differs from the indicated reason for which the patient was initially scanned, and the risk of malignancy is very high.

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The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

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

    Francesco Bertagna & Raffaele Giubbini

  2. Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET/CT Center, Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland, Bellinzona, Switzerland

    Giorgio Treglia & Luca Giovanella

  3. 1st Division of Radiology, Spedali Civili di Brescia, Brescia, Italy

    Emanuela Orlando & Lodovica Dognini

  4. Nuclear Medicine Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

    Ramin Sadeghi

Authors
  1. Francesco Bertagna
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  2. Giorgio Treglia
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  3. Emanuela Orlando
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  4. Lodovica Dognini
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  5. Luca Giovanella
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  6. Ramin Sadeghi
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  7. Raffaele Giubbini
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Correspondence to Francesco Bertagna.

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Bertagna, F., Treglia, G., Orlando, E. et al. Prevalence and clinical significance of incidental F18-FDG breast uptake: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Jpn J Radiol 32, 59–68 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11604-013-0270-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11604-013-0270-0

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