Comparison of MRI and 18F-FDG PET/CT in the Liver Metastases of Gastrointestinal and Pancreaticobiliary Tumors.

OBJECTIVES

To compare the efficacy of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the detection of liver metastases originating from the gastrointestinal system (GIS) and the pancreaticobiliary (PB) system.

METHODS

This retrospective study included 42 patients with primary GIS (stomach or colorectal) or PB system malignancies that metastasized to the liver, histopathologically confirmed diagnoses, and MRI and 18F-FDG PET/CT images. The MRI and 18F-FDG PET/CT images were analyzed. Student's t-test was used to compare the two modalities in terms of determining the number of metastases, and Cohen's kappa test was conducted to determine the agreement between the modalities.

RESULTS

Twenty-eight (66.7%) of the patients included in this study were male, and the mean age was 60.67±9.4 years. Colon (n=25; 59.5%) and pancreatic (n=7; 16.6%) adenocarcinomas were the most common primary tumors that had metastasized to the liver. MRI detected more metastases in 12 (28.5%) patients, less in seven (16.6%), and an equal number of metastases in 23 (54.7%). No statistically significant difference was observed between the number of metastases detected by MRI and 18F-FDG PET/CT (7.55±7.96 and 6.36±7.28, respectively; p=0.11). There was a moderate agreement between the two modalities (kappa value=0.423). Most of the metastases detected on MRI but not seen on 18F-FDG PET/CT (n=10, 23.8%) were lesions smaller than 10 mm. For the eight (19%) patients with lymph node metastases, the number of metastatic lymph nodes detected by MRI and 18F-FDG PET/CT was similar (12 and 14, respectively, p>0.05).

CONCLUSION

MRI can detect small lesions at an early stage, and 18F-FDG PET/CT shows the metabolic activity of lesions; therefore, the combined use of the two modalities can potentially offer a beneficial outcome for patients.