Application of positron emission tomography‑computed tomography in the diagnosis of pulmonary ground‑glass nodules

Hu,Lili; Pan,Yuanwei; Zhou,Zhigang; Gao,Jianbo

doi:10.3892/etm.2017.5194

Application of positron emission tomography‑computed tomography in the diagnosis of pulmonary ground‑glass nodules

Authors:
- Lili Hu
- Yuanwei Pan
- Zhigang Zhou
- Jianbo Gao
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Affiliations: Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450052, P.R. China
Published online on: September 22, 2017 https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2017.5194
Pages: 5109-5113

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Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the value of positron emission tomography‑computed tomography (PET‑CT) using 18F‑fluorodeoxyglucose in the clinical diagnosis of pulmonary ground‑glass nodule. In total, 54 patients with pulmonary GGN that were identified by PET‑CT examination were selected and confirmed by pathology and clinical diagnosis in hospital between April 2014 and April 2015. The association between PET‑CT findings and pathology, and the value of PET‑CT were then evaluated. In the 54 patients, solitary pulmonary GGN with a nodule diameter of between 0.6 and 2.0 cm were detected. Amongst them, the PET‑CT examination of 42 patients revealed hyper metabolic nodules, and were all mixed GGN type nodules with a diameter >1 cm. The PET‑CT examination of the remaining 12 patients demonstrated no evidence of metabolic abnormalities and the nodules in these patients were pure or mixed GGN with a diameter <1 cm (except 2 cases with a diameter ≥1 cm). Furthermore, the diagnoses for all patients were pathologically confirmed by CT‑guided needle biopsy or thoracoscopic surgical resection. Amongst them, there were 41 cases of lung adenocarcinoma, 4 cases of fungal infection, 7 cases of inflammation and 2 cases of adenomatoid hyperplasia. Additionally, PET‑CT has a lower detection rate for smaller GGN exhibits no clear advantage for pure GGN, but has a higher detection rate for larger GGN. In conclusion, to a certain extent, PET‑CT makes up for the shortcomings of traditional imaging and has some clinical value for the diagnosis of GGN.

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