Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27994684›Full record

ArticleNuclear medicine and molecular imaging2016

Indeterminate Findings on Oncologic PET/CT: What Difference Does PET/MRI Make?

Tyler J Fraum, Kathryn J Fowler, Jonathan McConathy, Farrokh Dehdashti

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nuclear medicine and molecular imaging, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 25% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Tyler J FraumMallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, 510 S. Kingshighway Blvd., Campus Box 8131, Saint Louis, MO 63110 USA.
Kathryn J FowlerMallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, 510 S. Kingshighway Blvd., Campus Box 8131, Saint Louis, MO 63110 USA.
Jonathan McConathyMallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, 510 S. Kingshighway Blvd., Campus Box 8131, Saint Louis, MO 63110 USA.
Farrokh DehdashtiMallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, 510 S. Kingshighway Blvd., Campus Box 8131, Saint Louis, MO 63110 USA.
Mallinckrodt (United States) · US

Funding

PET TUMOR AND PROLIFERATION IMAGING VIA CATIONIC AMINO ACID TRANSPORTK08CA154790 · NCI · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI MCCONATHY, JONATHAN EDWARD · 2011 to 2015
$789k
NCI NIH HHS K08 CA154790
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPositron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) with 2-deoxy-2-[

methodsA total of 190 oncology patients underwent whole-body PET/CT, immediately followed by PET/MRI utilizing the same FDG administration. Each PET/CT was interpreted by our institution's nuclear medicine service as a standard-of-care clinical examination. Review of these PET/CT reports identified 31 patients (16 %) with indeterminate findings. Two readers evaluated all 31 PET/CT studies, followed by the corresponding PET/MRI studies. A consensus was reached for each case, and changes in interpretation directly resulting from PET/MRI review were recorded. Interpretations were then correlated with follow-up imaging, pathology results, and other diagnostic studies.

resultsIn 18 of 31 cases with indeterminate findings on PET/CT, PET/MRI resulted in a more definitive interpretation by facilitating the differentiation of infection/inflammation from malignancy (15/18), the accurate localization of FDG-avid lesions (2/18), and the characterization of incidental non-FDG-avid solid organ lesions (1/18). Explanations for improved reader certainty with PET/MRI included the superior soft tissue contrast of MRI and the ability to assess cellular density with diffusion-weighted imaging. The majority (12/18) of such cases had an appropriate standard of reference; in all 12 cases, the definitive PET/MRI interpretation proved correct. These 12 patients underwent six additional diagnostic studies to clarify the initial indeterminate PET/CT findings. In the remaining 13 of 31 cases with indeterminate findings on both PET/CT and PET/MRI, common reasons for uncertainty included the inability to distinguish reactive from malignant lymphadenopathy (4/13) and local recurrence from treatment effect (2/13).

conclusionsIndeterminate PET/CT findings can result in equivocal reads and additional diagnostic studies. PET/MRI may reduce the rate of indeterminate findings by facilitating better tumor staging, FDG activity localization, and lesion characterization. In our study, PET/MRI resulted in more definitive imaging interpretations with high accuracy. PET/MRI also showed potential in reducing the number of additional diagnostic studies prompted by PET/CT findings. Our results suggest that whole-body PET/MRI provides certain diagnostic advantages over PET/CT, promotes more definitive imaging interpretations, and may improve the overall clinical utility of PET.

Indexed as

Clinical oncologyMagnetic resonance imagingMultimodal imagingPositron emission tomographyWhole-body imaging

Identifiers

PMID27994684
PMCPMC5135691
OpenAlexW2339897055

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.