PET/CT in nuclear endocrinology: Results of the survey diffused through different social networks of the SEMNIM in Spain.

Aim: To know the current use of the PET/CT technology applied in the field of endocrinology, the Endocrinology Working Group of SEMNIM proposed conducting a survey. The objective was to obtain a snapshot of the use of PET/CT in nuclear endocrinology, to know if it is being used properly and detect possible needs.

Material And Methods: During the first quarter of 2022, we analyzed the data obtained from a survey that was distributed through different social networks throughout the second half of 2021. The survey asked for the use of the different PET/CT techniques available in Spain in different endocrinological pathologies like differentiated thyroid carcinoma, medullary thyroid carcinoma, neuroendocrine tumors and hyperparathyroidism.

Results: A total of 15 centers responded to the survey. A percentage of 79 of hospitals used F-FDG PET/CT in the diagnosis and/or follow-up of differentiated thyroid carcinoma (mean annual studies: 36.9; range 10-100); 85% used F-DOPA PET/CT for the study of biochemical recurrence of medullary thyroid carcinoma (mean annual studies: 7.8; range 2-20); 77% used F-DOPA PET/CT for the study of neuroendocrine tumors: 77% used F-DOPA PET/CT (mean of 10 scans per year; range 2-30) and 69% used 68Ga-DOTA-SA (mean of 24.7 studies per year; range 2-127); 79% used F-choline PET/CT for the study of hyperparathyroidism (mean of 30.1 annual studies; range 10-120).

Conclusions: We detected that the use of the PET/CT technique in endocrinology is not yet widespread, however, we saw that the indications in which it is used are, in general, those reported in the different consensus.