Assessment of Suspected Malignancy or Infection in Immunocompromised Patients After Solid Organ Transplantation by [F]FDG PET/CT and [F]FDG PET/MRI.

PURPOSE

To study the value of 2-deoxy-2-[F]fluoro-D-glucose([F]FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) and [F]FDG positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI) in assessing immunocompromised patients with suspected malignancy or infection.

METHODS

[F]FDG-PET/CT and [F]FDG-PET/MRI examinations of patients who were immunocompromised after receiving lung, heart, pancreas, kidney, liver, or combined kidney-liver transplants were analyzed in this retrospective study. Patients underwent whole-body hybrid-imaging because of clinical signs of malignancy and/or infection. Findings were assessed by molecular features ([F]FDG-uptake) and morphological changes. The final diagnosis, which was arrived at after review of clinical, laboratory, and histopathologic analyses and follow-up imaging studies, served as the reference standard.

RESULTS

Altogether, (i) 28 contrast-enhanced [F]FDG-PET/CT scans (CE-PET/CT), (ii) 33 non-contrast [F]FDG-PET/CT scans (NC-PET/CT), and (iii) 18 [F]FDG-PET/MRI scans were included. Additionally, 12/62 patients underwent follow-up PET imaging to rule out vital tumor or metabolic active inflammatory processes. CE-PET/CT exhibited 94.4% sensitivity, 80.0% specificity, 89.5% positive predictive value (PPV), 88.9% negative predictive value (NPV), and 89.3% accuracy with regard to the reference standard. NC-PET/CT exhibited 91.3% sensitivity, 80.0% specificity, 91.3% PPV, 80.0% NPV, and 87.9% accuracy. PET/MRI exhibited 88.6% sensitivity, 99.2% specificity, 99.6% PPV, 81.3% NPV, and 94.4% accuracy. Exact McNemar statistical test (one-sided) showed significant difference between the CT-/MR-component alone and the integrated PET/CT and PET/MRI for diagnosis of malignancy or infection ( value < 0.001). Radiation exposure was 4- to 7-fold higher with PET/CT than with PET/MRI.

CONCLUSION

For immunocompromised patients with clinically unresolved symptoms, to rule out vital tumor manifestations or metabolic active inflammation, [F]FDG-PET/MRI, CE-[F]FDG-PET/CT, and NC-[F]FDG-PET/CT exhibit excellent performance in diagnosing malignancy or infection. The main strength of PET/MRI is its considerably lower level of radiation exposure than that associated with PET/CT.