[Clinical evaluation of 18F-FDE PET-CT in detecting malignant liver tumors].

Objective: To evaluate the clinical value of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) positron-emission tomography (PET) combined with computer tomography (PET-CT) in the diagnosis and clinical staging of liver cancer.

Methods: (18)F-FDG PET-CT was performed preoperatively in 16 cases of primary and 8 metastatic liver cancers. The imaging features of the primary foci were analyzed, followed by measurement of standardized (18)F-FDG uptake. For the metastatic foci, the abnormal metabolism of (18)F-FDG was observed and CT, PET and PET-CT fusion images were obtained for accurate localization of these foci.

Results: (18)F-FDG uptake occurred in the supraclavicular region in 6 (37.5%) of the 16 patients with primary liver cancer, but was detected in the 8 patients with metastatic liver cancer. Fourteen metastatic nodules were found in 5 of the 16 patients with primary liver cancer, located in the lungs (2 cases) or the abdominal cavity (3 cases).

Conclusions: Negative results of (18)F-FDG PET-CT imaging should be carefully evaluated for diagnosing primary liver cancers, considering the very low sensitivity (37.5%) of this imaging modality in this study. But in the cases of metastatic liver cancers this imaging modality may exhibit high sensitivity, and can also be of great value in clinical staging of the primary liver cancers.