Impact of positron emission tomography on strategy in liver resection for primary and secondary liver tumors.

Purpose: Outcome of patients with metastatic disease mainly depends on accurate preoperative tumor staging. 18[F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-PET) has been proven to be a valuable diagnostic tool in a number of different tumors but its direct influence on liver surgery has not been thoroughly investigated.

Materials And Methods: Between July 1999 and March 2000, 50 consecutive patients with 174 suspected liver lesions were admitted to the University Hospital Jena.