• Jan D Soyka, Patrick Veit-Haibach, Klaus Strobel, Stefan Breitenstein, Alois Tschopp, Katja A Mende, Marisol Perez Lago, and Thomas F Hany.
• Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Zuerich, Zurich, Switzerland. jan.soyka@usz.ch
• J. Nucl. Med. 2008 Mar 1; 49 (3): 354-61.

Unlabelled(18)F-FDG PET/CT has gained wide acceptance for evaluation of recurrent colorectal carcinoma. However in clinical practice, contrast-enhanced CT (ceCT) is still the first-line restaging tool. The aim of this study was to investigate the value of contrast-enhanced PET/CT (cePET/CT) as a first-line restaging tool with a special focus on the importance of the use of intravenous contrast.MethodsFifty-four patients (17 women, 37 men; mean age, 60.3 y), referred for restaging of colorectal carcinoma, were examined with cePET/CT. Retrospective analysis was performed by 2 experienced readers by consensus: first, ceCT alone; second, non-cePET/CT; and third, cePET/CT. The number, localization, and diagnostic certainty of lesions were evaluated. Additionally, the therapeutic impact of the findings was determined. In 29 patients, histology, clinical imaging, and clinical follow-up served as the reference standard. In 25 patients, clinical follow-up and imaging served as the reference standard.ResultsOverall, non-cePET/CT delivered correct additional information to the ceCT findings in 27 of 54 patients (50%). This occurred in (a) 20 of 30 patients, where ceCT was found to be inconclusive, and in (b) 7 of 24 patients with conclusive ceCT findings, where non-cePET/CT found additional lesions, leading to a therapy modification in 5 patients. Compared with non-cePET/CT, cePET/CT revealed additional information in 39 of 54 patients (72%), with therapeutic relevance in 23 patients. This large number was primarily due to correct segmental localization of liver metastases, which is crucial for surgical therapy planning.ConclusionOn the basis of its higher accuracy and therapeutic impact compared with ceCT, our data suggest that cePET/CT might be considered as the first-line diagnostic tool for restaging in patients with colorectal cancer.

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