Nuklearmedizin. Nuclear medicine | 2019
\ufeffComparison of Fluorine(18)-fluorodeoxyglucose and Gallium(68)-citrate PET/CT in patients with tuberculosis.
Abstract
18F-FDG and 68Ga-citrate PET/CT have both been shown to be useful in the management of tuberculosis (TB). We compared the abnormal PET findings of 18F-FDG- and 68Ga-citrate-PET/CT in patients with TB.\n\n\nMETHODS\n\u2002Patients with TB on anti-TB therapy were included. Patients had a set of PET scans consisting of both 18F-FDG and 68Ga-citrate. Abnormal lesions were identified, and the two sets of scans were compared. The scan findings were correlated to the clinical data as provided by the attending physician.\n\n\nRESULTS\n\u200246 PET/CT scans were performed in 18 patients, 11 (61\u2009%) were female, and the mean age was 35.7\u2009±\u200913.5\u2005years. Five patients also had both studies for follow-up reasons during the use of anti-TB therapy. Thirteen patients were co-infected with HIV. 18F-FDG detected more lesions than 68Ga-citrate (261 vs. 166, p\u2009<\u20090.0001). 68Ga-citrate showed a better definition of intracerebral lesions due to the absence of tracer uptake in the brain. The mean SUVmax was higher for 18F-FDG compared to 68Ga-citrate (5.73 vs. 3.01, p\u2009<\u20090.0001). We found a significant correlation between the SUVmax of lesions that were determined by both tracers (r\u2009=\u20090.4968, p\u2009<\u20090.0001).\n\n\nCONCLUSION\n\u2002Preliminary data shows 18F-FDG-PET detects more abnormal lesions in TB compared to 68Ga-citrate. However, 68Ga-citrate has better lesion definition in the brain and is therefore especially useful when intracranial TB is suspected.