Meta-analysis of 18fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-CT for diagnosis of lung malignancies in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinomas

• Published in: Head & neck 2015-11, Vol.37 (11), p.1680-1684
• Main Authors: Xi, Kai, Xie, Xiaojuan, Xi, Shoumin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 18fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)-CT; head and neck squamous cell carcinomas; lung metastases; meta-analysis; second primary lung cancers
• ISSN: 1043-3074; 1097-0347
• DOI: 10.1002/hed.23774

Background The purpose of this meta‐analysis was to evaluate the accuracy of 18fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)‐CT for diagnosis of lung malignancies in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs). Methods A systematic review of relevant literature was performed in the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases. The Stata software was used to pool the sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratio, and likelihood ratios, and to construct summary receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for 18FDG PET‐CT. Results Twelve articles (1431 patients) were included in this study. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratio, positive likelihood ratio, and negative likelihood ratio with 95% confidence interval (CI) for 18FDG PET‐CT were 0.85 (95% CI = 0.66–0.94), 0.98 (95% CI = 0.96–0.99), 335 (95% CI = 96.4–1166), 52.0 (95% CI = 23.3–115.9), and 0.16 (95% CI = 0.06–0.43), respectively. Area under the curve was 0.99 (95% CI = 0.97–0.99). Conclusion 18FDG PET‐CT is a valuable diagnostic tool for diagnosing lung malignancies in patients with HNSCC. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 37: 1680–1684, 2015