Incidental pituitary uptake on whole-body 18F-FDG PET/CT: a multicentre study

• Published in: European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging 2010-12, Vol.37 (12), p.2334-2343
• Main Authors: Jeong, Shin Young, Lee, Sang-Woo, Lee, Hui Joong, Kang, Sungmin, Seo, Ji-Hyoung, Chun, Kyung Ah, Cho, Ihn Ho, Won, Kyung Sook, Zeon, Seok Kil, Ahn, Byeong-Cheol, Lee, Jaetae
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adenoma - diagnostic imaging; Adenoma - epidemiology; Adenoma - metabolism; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Cardiology; Female; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 - pharmacokinetics; Histology; Hormones; Humans; Imaging; Incidence; Korea - epidemiology; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolism; Middle Aged; Nuclear Medicine; Oncology; Original Article; Orthopedics; Pituitary gland; Pituitary Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Pituitary Neoplasms - epidemiology; Pituitary Neoplasms - metabolism; Positron-Emission Tomography - statistics & numerical data; Radiology; Radiopharmaceuticals - pharmacokinetics; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; Tomography; Tomography, X-Ray Computed - statistics & numerical data; Whole Body Imaging - statistics & numerical data
• ISSN: 1619-7070; 1619-7089
• DOI: 10.1007/s00259-010-1571-5

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of incidental pituitary uptake on whole-body 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) and to investigate its clinical significance. Methods The files of 40,967 patients who underwent whole-body FDG PET/CT were retrospectively reviewed. Quantification of pituitary metabolic activity was obtained by using the maximum standardized uptake value (SUV max ). Hormone assays and pituitary MRIs were performed to assess pituitary lesions. Results Focally increased pituitary FDG uptake on PET/CT was found in 30 of 40,967 patients, accounting for an incidence of 0.073%. The mean SUV max of 30 patients was 8.9 ± 6.6 (range: 3.2–32.6). Histological diagnosis was obtained in three patients and included two growth hormone-secreting adenomas and one non-functioning adenoma. Hormone assays were performed on serum samples from 11 patients, 2 of whom were shown to have hypersecretion of pituitary hormone. MRI was performed on 19 patients. Abnormal MRI findings suggesting a pituitary mass were found in 18 of 19 cases (94.7%). The mean SUV max calculated without correction for partial volume effect for macroadenomas was significantly higher than the SUV max for microadenomas (11.5 ± 8.4 vs 4.8 ± 1.3; p