Usefulness of Low Dose Oral Contrast Media in 18F-FDG PET/CT.
- Author:
Young Sil AN
1
;
Joon Kee YOON
;
Seon Pyo HONG
;
Chul Woo JOH
;
Seok Nam YOON
Author Information
1. Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Ajou University School of medicine, Suwon, Kyungki-do, Korea. snyoon@ajou.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
PET/CT;
FDG;
oral contrast;
artifact;
low dose
- MeSH:
Artifacts;
Contrast Media*;
Fluorodeoxyglucose F18*;
Humans;
Intestines;
Positron-Emission Tomography and Computed Tomography*;
Retrospective Studies
- From:Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
2006;40(5):257-262
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
PURPOSE: The standard protocol using large volume of oral contrast media may cause gastrointestinal discomfort and contrast-related artifacts in PET/CT. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of low dose oral contrast in 18F-FDG PET/CT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the whole-body PET/CT images in a total of 435 patients. About 200 ml of oral contrast agent (barium sulfate) was administered immediately before injection of 18F-FDG. The FDG uptake of intestines was analyzed by visual and semi-quantitative method on transaxial, coronal and saggital planes. RESULTS: Seventy (16%, 113 sites) of 435 images showed high FDG uptake (peak SUV > 4); 50 (74%, 84 sites) with diffuse and 20 (26%, 29 sites) with focal uptake. The most commonly delivered site of oral contrast media was small bowel (n=27, 39%). On PET/CT images, FDG uptake coexisted with oral contrast media in 26 patients (54%, 38 sites) with diffuse pattern and 9 (45%, 9 sites) with focal pattern, and by sites, those were 38 (45%) and 9 (31%), respectively. In small bowel regions, the proportion of coexistence reached as high as 61% (29/47 sites). A visual analysis of available non-attenuation corrected PET images of 27 matched regions revealed no contrast-related artifact. CONCLUSION: We concluded that the application of low dose contrast media could be helpful in the evaluation of abdominal uptake in the FDG PET/CT image.
