Diagnostic values of PET/CT fusion in head and neck cancer

OBJECTIVE:To investigate the diagnostic value of PET/CT fusion in head and neck cancer. METHODS: Twenty-one patients with head and neck cancer underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging. The primary lesions or metastasis lesions were proved by pathology. The PET/CT fusion images, PET images and CT images of the same patient were analyzed frame by frame. The TNM stage was analyzed based on PET/CT and CT. The values of PET/CT and PET for localization were evaluated. RESULTS: Sixty-five malignant lesions were detected by PET/CT in 21 patients. Among 65 lesions, 35 lesions (53.9%) were detected and displayed definitely by both PET and the plain scan of CT; 24 lesions (36.9%) were detected definitely by PET but not by the plain scan of CT; while 6 lesions (9.2%) were negative by PET but definitely by the plain scan of CT. The sensitivity of PET/CT was higher than ones of PET and the plain scan of CT alone. The changes in TNM stage occurred in 8 patients (38.1%), based on PET/CT. The percentages of accurate localization of PET/CT and PET were 90.8% and 49.2% respectively. The percentage of not accurate localization but not influencing final diagnosis in PET/CT was 95.4%, in PET was 66.2%, P0.05. CONCLUSION: PET/CT can increase the accuracy of diagnose and staging for head and neck cancer, and PET/CT is superior to PET alone for accurate localization.