Feasibility of Patlak parametric imaging in the diagnosis of liver cancer

Abstract

Conclusion Whole-body dynamic 18F-FDG PET/CT parameters are of great value in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant liver lesions. Whole-body dynamic 18F-FDG PET/CT is more sensitive than whole-body static 18F-FDG PET/CT in the differential diagnosis of liver malignancy.Using reliable Patlak graphical analysis, whole-body dynamic PET/CT parametric imaging can achieve comparable or potentially better lesion detection capabilities than static SUV imaging. Background To investigate the value of whole-body dynamic 18F-FDG PET/CT parametric imaging in the differential diagnosis of liver-occupying lesions. Methods Eighty-one patients with hepatic occupancies were selected for whole-body dynamic PET/CT examinations. The imaging characteristics of Patlak parameter images of patients in the benign and malignant liver groups and patients with different pathological types of hepatic malignancies were analysed and compared, and the results were statistically analysed. Results Among 81 patients, SUVmax,Kimax,TBRSUV and TBRKi showed statistically significant differences in the benign liver groups and the malignant liver groups. (SUVmax: t =-13.020, P<0.001; Kimax: t =-12.984, P<0.001; TBRSUV: t =-10.541, P<0.001; TBRKi: t=-7.536, P<0.001). Among 67 cases in liver malignancy, the TBRKi values were higher than TBRSUV according to the results of the box plot analysis. Pearson correlation analysis showed that SUVmax was positively correlated with Kimax (r=0.882, P<0.01) and TBRSUV was positively correlated with TBRKi (r=0.848, P<0.01),respectively.The sensitivity and specificity of SUVmax, Kimax, TBRSUV and TBRKi in the diagnosis of primary liver cancer and liver metastases were 84.0% 65.7%, 68.0% 88.6%, 64.0% 85.1% ,92.0% and 68.6%, respectively.