Combined clinical parameters improve the diagnostic efficacy of F-FDG PET/CT in patients with fever of unknown origin (FUO) and inflammation of unknown origin (IUO): A prospective study in China.

OBJECTIVES

To improve the diagnostic efficacy of F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (F-FDG PET/CT) for Chinese patients with fever of unknown origin (FUO) and inflammation of unknown origin (IUO), with combined clinical parameters.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

FUO/IUO patients who underwent a standard diagnostic work-up and F-FDG PET/CT scanning were enrolled and divided into a local uptake lesion subgroup and a non-specific abnormal uptake subgroup. Beneficial clinical parameters for improving the diagnostic efficacy of PET/CT were identified.

RESULTS

From January 2014 to January 2019, 253 FUO/IUO patients were studied. In total, 147 patients had local uptake lesions and 106 patients had non-specific abnormal uptake. In the local uptake lesion group, the positioning accuracy of PET/CT was 37.2% in grades 1 and 2, and 66.3% in grades 3 and 4. With the following combination of clinical parameters, the positioning accuracy increased to 75.0% and 90.0%, respectively: time from admission to performing PET/CT scanning <6.5 days and C-reactive protein level >95 mg/l. In the non-specific abnormal uptake group, the combination of sex (male), bicytopenia, and lactic dehydrogenase improved the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) for diagnosing malignancy from 64.3%, 69%, 60%, and 72.7%, respectively, to 83.3%, 81%, 81.4%, and 82.9%, respectively. With the combination of sex (male), white blood count, serum ferritin level, and hepatosplenomegaly, the infection prediction model had a sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of 78%, 76.2%, 76.6%, and 77.6%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Combined clinical parameters improved the localization diagnostic value of F-FDG PET/CT in the local uptake lesion subgroup and the etiological diagnostic value in the non-specific abnormal uptake subgroup.