Diagnostic value of ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT in detection of single spinal metastasis

Objective: To evaluate the efficacies and advantages of ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT in detection of single spinal metastasis. Methods: A total of 67 patients (41 males, 26 females, with age range of 40-83 years,mean (61.5 ± 10.2) years) with history of primary cancer and suspected single spinal metastasis by CT and/or MRI were enrolled into this retrospective study. All patients underwent ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT. The final diagnosis was confirmed by pathological results or follow-up (≥6 months). The efficacies of PET/CT imaging in detection of single spinal metastasis were compared with PET, CT and MRI. χ² test was used to analyze data. Results: The sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy for PET/CT imaging were 96.3% (52/54), 84.6% (11/13), 96.3 % (52/54), 84.6% (11/13) and 94.0% (63/67), respectively. The sensitivity,negative predictive value and accuracy of PET/CT imaging were better than those of PET (81.5 % (44/54), 44.4% (8/18), 77.6% (52/67); χ²=6.000, 5.134, 7.421, all P<0.05) or CT (79.6% (43/54), 38.9% (7/18), 74.6% (50/67) ; χ²=7.083, 6.482, 9.543, all P<0.05), and the specificity of PET/CT was also higher than that of CT(53.8% (7/13); χ²=4.248, P<0.05). The accuracy of PET/CT imaging was higher than that of MRI (80.6% (54/67); χ²=5.457, P<0.05). Conclusion: ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT imaging has high efficacies and advantages in detection of single spinal metastasis, and it could be considered as a useful diagnostic method when MRI imaging findings are equivocal. (authors)