Potential impact of PET/CT on the initial staging of lymphoma

Abstract Purpose The aim of this study was to investigate the potential impact of PET/CT on the initial staging of lymphoma with comparison to each of the PET and CT components alone. Materials and methods PET/CTs from 37 patients with lymphoma undergoing initial staging were studied. Review of PET, CT and PET/CT images were done and staging of each patient by each modality was assigned and compared together. Clinical follow-up, additional imaging and histology served as the standard of reference. Results PET/CT correctly diagnosed 83 nodal regions as positive for lymphomatous involvement versus 61 and 57 detected by PET and CT respectively. The respective sensitivities, specificities, and accuracies for the detection of nodal involvement were: PET: 88.4%, 65%, 94%, CT 89.1%, 60.1%, 96.1%, PET/CT 96.3%, 88.3%, 98.2%. PET/CT also correctly identified more extra-nodal lesions ( n  = 24) than CT ( n  = 16) and PET ( n  = 15). Correct staging was more accurate at PET/CT ( n  = 31) in comparison to PET alone ( n  = 23) and CT alone ( n  = 21). Conclusions PET/CT was superior to PET and CT in the initial staging of lymphoma with significant better performance compared to PET and CT to clarify nodal and extra-nodal involved sites. The application of PET/CT rather than CT or PET is likely to be more beneficial.