Abstract:
Objective To compare the diagnostic value of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT versus enhanced CT in detecting adult patients with primary malignant tumors of the anterior mediastinum and improve the accuracy of diagnosis.
Methods A total of 80 adult patients with primary tumors of the anterior mediastinum (35 malignant tumors and 45 benign tumors) confirmed by pathology from June 2016 to May 2019 in Affiliated Hospital of Hubei University of Arts and Science (Xiangyang Central Hospital) were retrospectively analyzed. The patients included 46 males and 34 females aged 20–80 years, with a median age of 45.5±10.2 years. All patients were subjected to whole-body 18F-FDG PET/CT and plain and enhanced-scan thorax CT within a 2-week interval. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 18F-FDG PET/CT and enhanced CT for the diagnosis of adult patients with primary malignant tumors of the anterior mediastinum were calculated and compared by χ2 test. The diagnostic efficiency of 18F-FDG PET/CT versus enhanced CT for different types of adult patients with primary malignant tumors of the anterior mediastinum was also compared by χ2 test.
Results Among the 35 malignant tumors, 15 were thymic carcinomas, 10 were lymphomas, 7 were malignant germinomas, 1 was neuroendocrine carcinoma, 1 was malignant melanoma, and 1 was synovial sarcoma. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy 97.1%(34/35), 93.3%(42/45), 95.0%(76/80), respectively of 18F-FDG PET/CT for the diagnosis of adult patients with primary malignant tumors of the anterior mediastinum were significantly higher than those of enhanced CT 71.4%(25/35), 77.8%(35/45), 75.0%(60/80), respectively; χ2=8.612, 4.357, 12.471, respectively; all P<0.05. The diagnostic accuracies of 18F-FDG PET/CT for thymic carcinoma, lymphoma, and malignant germinoma 93.3%(14/15), 100.0%(10/10), 85.7%(6/7), respectively were significantly higher than those of enhanced CT 60.0%(9/15), 50.0%(5/10), 28.6%(2/7), respectively; χ2=4.503, 6.333, 4.333, respectively; all P<0.05.
Conclusions 18F-FDG PET/CT has significant diagnostic value for adult patients with primary malignant tumors of the anterior mediastinum. The diagnostic efficiency of this technique is better than that of enhanced CT, and it can be used as a main imaging method for the diagnosis of these types of diseases.