Thursday, November 30 | 8:20 a.m.-8:30 a.m. | R1-SSNMMI07-3 | Room S403A
Findings presented during this session suggest that the use of MRI contrast agents during PET/MRI exams has no additional positive benefit for primary and follow-up staging of pediatric lymphoma patients.
Presenter Nils-Martin Bruckmann, MD, of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf in Germany, will discuss a study that evaluated the influence of an MRI contrast agent on primary and follow-up staging in 32 pediatric patients with newly diagnosed lymphoma using F-18 FDG-PET/MRI.
Out of 105 total exams analyzed on a patient-based level, FDG PET/MRI scans using two different MRI protocols (one with contrast and one without) determined correct tumor stages in 86%, according to the findings. The region-based analysis correctly identified 119/127 (94%) lymphoma-affected regions. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and diagnostic accuracy were all high, with no statistically significant differences between the two MRI protocols.
Ultimately, F-18 FDG PET/MRI is increasingly accepted for staging of lymphoma patients and the present study further confirms its feasibility and high diagnostic accuracy in pediatric lymphoma patients. However, the use of MRI contrast agents in F-18 FDG-PET/MRI examinations has no additional positive benefit, according to the research.
“The switch to a contrast agent-free F-18 FDG PET/MRI protocol should additionally be discussed in all pediatric lymphoma patients,” Bruckmann noted.
Attend this Thursday morning session to hear the details.
