Establishment of the Standardized Uptake Values of 99mTc-MDP in Normal Vertebrae for SPECT/CT Quantification

Abstract

PurposeTo establish the standardized uptake value (SUV) of Tc-99m-methylene diphosphonate (MDP) for normal vertebra in both Chinese male and female by using a SPECT/CT scanner.MethodsA retrospective study was carried out involving 116 men and 105 women who underwent SPECT/CT scan using 99mTc-MDP. We acquired the SUV, CT value of 2416 normal vertebra in total and analyzed the difference of SUV between men and women. We analyzed the vertebra data with no significant difference of SUVmax in male and female group. The correlations between SUVmax value and CT value, age, height, weight in each group were also analyzed.ResultsThe SUVmax, SUVmean of vertebra in men were markedly higher than those in women(P < 0.0009). Specifically, for males, the SUVmax of C1, C2-4 and C5-L5 vertebra appeared to have significant differences(P < 0.05), while no significant difference of the SUVmax of C1-L5 vertebra were observed in females(P < 0.05). The SUVmax of each vertebral segment showed a strong negative correlation with CT values in both men and women(r=-0.89,-0.92;P < 0.0009). The SUVmax of vertebra showed weak significant correlation with weight and height in male (r = 0.4,P < 0.0009;r = 0.28,P = 0.005),and weak significant correlation with weight in females(r = 0.32,P = 0.009).ConclusionThis article study initially established SUVmax, SUVavgmean of normal vertebra in both Chinese men and women with a large sample population,and summarized the SUVmax of vertebra with no significant difference. The results could provide a quantitative reference for clinical diagnosis and the evaluation of therapeutic response in vertebral lesions.