The role of 18F-FDG-PET and PET/CT in patients with sarcoidosis: an updated evidence-based review

Giorgio Treglia; Salvatore Annunziata; Dragana Sobic-Saranovic; Francesco Bertagna; Carmelo Caldarella; Luca Giovanella

doi:10.1016/j.acra.2014.01.008

The role of 18F-FDG-PET and PET/CT in patients with sarcoidosis: an updated evidence-based review

Acad Radiol. 2014 May;21(5):675-84. doi: 10.1016/j.acra.2014.01.008.

Authors

Giorgio Treglia¹, Salvatore Annunziata², Dragana Sobic-Saranovic³, Francesco Bertagna⁴, Carmelo Caldarella², Luca Giovanella⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET/CT Center, Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland, Via Ospedale 12, Bellinzona, 6500 Switzerland. Electronic address: giorgiomednuc@libero.it.
² Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Radiological Sciences, Catholic University, Rome, Italy.
³ Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Center for Nuclear Medicine, Clinical Center of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia.
⁴ Department of Nuclear Medicine, Spedali Civili and University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
⁵ Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET/CT Center, Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland, Via Ospedale 12, Bellinzona, 6500 Switzerland.

PMID: 24703482
DOI: 10.1016/j.acra.2014.01.008

Abstract

Rationale and objectives: To provide an updated evidence-based review of the literature on the role of fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) or PET/computed tomography (PET/CT) in patients with sarcoidosis.

Materials and methods: A comprehensive literature search of PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Embase databases was conducted to find relevant published articles on FDG-PET or PET/CT in patients with sarcoidosis. Only those studies that satisfied all the following criteria were included: (1) FDG-PET or PET/CT performed in patients with histologically confirmed sarcoidosis, (2) sample size of at least 10 patients, and (3) whole-body PET studies performed. Information was collected concerning basic study, patient characteristics, and technical aspects. The main findings of the articles included have been described.

Results: Reviewing titles and abstracts, 21 articles were selected. The role of FDG-PET or PET/CT was analyzed in assessing disease extent and activity and in treatment response evaluation. Comparison with other tracers had also been investigated. Recent studies evaluated the influence of these methods in the clinical management and their role as predictive tools in patients with sarcoidosis.

Conclusions: FDG-PET and PET/CT seem to be useful in staging, evaluating disease activity, and monitoring treatment response in patients with sarcoidosis. PET appears to have higher diagnostic accuracy compared to Gallium-67-citrate scintigraphy. Conversely, there is not enough evidence about the use of other PET tracers in patients with sarcoidosis. FDG-PET and PET/CT seem to have a role as predictive tools and may influence the clinical management in patients with sarcoidosis, but more studies are needed in this regard.

Keywords: Positron emission tomography; fluorodeoxyglucose; sarcoidosis.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Evidence-Based Medicine
Fluorodeoxyglucose F18*
Humans
Image Enhancement / methods
Multimodal Imaging / methods*
Positron-Emission Tomography / methods*
Radiopharmaceuticals
Reproducibility of Results
Sarcoidosis / diagnosis*
Sensitivity and Specificity
Tomography, X-Ray Computed / methods*

Substances

Radiopharmaceuticals
Fluorodeoxyglucose F18