Analysis of ¹⁸F-FDG PET-CT for solitary lung lesion in patients under 40 years of age

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic value of ¹⁸F-FDG PET-CT in differentiating solitary lung lesion in patients under 40 years of age. Methods: From July 2006 to June 2016, the ¹⁸F-FDG PET-CT of 40 patients with histologically confirmed benign lung lesions (16, SUV_max 0.3-12.1) and lung carcinoma (24, SUV_max 2.0-17.8) was reviewed. Results: The diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy of solitary lung lesion were 87.5%, 25.0%, 63.6%, 57.1%, and 60.0%, respectively. The 16 benign lesions were tuberculosis (8), inflammatory pseudotumor (3), cryptococcosis (2), hamartoma (1), sclerosing pneumocytoma (1), and active alveolar epithelial hyperplasia (1). The 24 malignancy included pulmonary adenocarcinoma (20), squamous cell carcinoma (4), adenosquamous carcinoma (2), and neuroendocrine carcinoma (1). Conclusion: ¹⁸F-FDG PET-CT has high sensitivity and low specificity for diagnosing solitary pulmonary lesion in patients under 40 years of age. (authors)