ArticleBMJ open2018
A diagnostic cohort study on the accuracy of 18-fluorodeoxyglucose (
Article in BMJ open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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.
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.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Optimizing Diagnosis and Surgery for Pure Anterior Mediastinal Cysts: Insights from a Single-Centre Study.Interdisciplinary cardiovascular and thoracic surgery · 2026Article
- Therapeutic Management of Metastatic Thymoma and Thymic Carcinoma.Current oncology reports · 2025Review
- Review
- The role of positron emission tomography in mediastinal mass.Mediastinum (Hong Kong, China) · 2025Review
- Primary Leiomyosarcoma of the Mediastinum: A Rare and Challenging Diagnosis?Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Comparative Role of MDCT and FDG-PET/CT in the Diagnostic Evaluation of Mediastinal Mass Lesions: An Institutional Experience.World journal of nuclear medicine · 2022Article
- Mature teratoma of the anterior mediastinum revealed by supravalvular pulmonary stenosis: a case report.The Pan African medical journal · 2022Article
- Thymic Extranodal Marginal-Zone Lymphoma of Mucosa-Associated Lymphoid Tissue: Pathological Features,Frontiers in medicine · 2022Article
- 18F-FDG-PET/CT predicts grade of malignancy and invasive potential of thymic epithelial tumors.General thoracic and cardiovascular surgery · 2021Article
- Metabolic Characterization of Anterior Mediastinal Masses byMolecular imaging and radionuclide therapy · 2020Article
- Update in diagnostic imaging of the thymus and anterior mediastinal masses.Gland surgery · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
19 authors at 7 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe aim of this study is to collate multi-institutional data to determine the value by defining the diagnostic performance of fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET)/CT for malignancy in patients undergoing surgery with an anterior mediastinal mass in order to ascertain the clinical utility of PET/CT to differentiate malignant from benign aetiologies in patients presenting with an anterior mediastinal mass
settingDECiMaL Study is a multicentre, retrospective, collaborative cohort study in seven UK surgical sites.
participantsBetween January 2002 and June 2015, a total of 134 patients were submitted with a mean age (SD) of 55 years (16) of which 69 (51%) were men. We included all patients undergoing surgery who presented with an anterior mediastinal mass and underwent PET/CT. PET/CT was considered positive for any reported avidity as stated in the official report and the reference was the resected specimen reported by histopathology using WHO criteria. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predicted values of [18F]-FDG PET in determining malignant aetiology for an anterior mediastinal mass.
resultsThe sensitivity and specificity of PET/CT to correctly classify malignant disease were 83% (95% CI 74 to 89) and 58% (95% CI 37 to 78). The positive and negative predictive values were 90% (95% CI 83% to 95%) and 42% (95% CI 26% to 61%).
conclusionsThe results of our study suggest reasonable sensitivity but no specificity implying that a negative PET/CT is useful to rule out the diagnosis of malignant disease whereas a positive result has no value in the discrimination between malignant and benign diseases of the anterior mediastinum.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.