Objectives: To assess the clinical performance of fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET) using either a coincidence (CDET) gamma camera or PET equipment with Nal crystals for the detection of recurrences of colorectal cancer.
Methods: From July 1997 to December 1999, 290 examinations were performed in 244 patients using a CDET gamma camera (2-dimensional system with 19 mm thick crystals). Additionally, from January 2000 to July 2002, 354 examinations were performed in 303 patients using PET (3-dimensional system with Nal crystals).
Results: Four hundred and seventy-three of the 644 examinations performed were evaluable on the basis of histological data (202 examinations) or more than 6 months of follow-up (273 examinations). The performances of the two systems were equivalent on a patient basis (sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of dedicated PET was 92%, 84% and 90%, respectively; and sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of CDET was 90%, 94% and 91%, respectively). On a site basis, a highly significant reduction in sensitivity was observed for lesions < or = 10 mm vs. > 10 mm with both PET and the CDET gamma camera, but no difference was observed between PET and CDET according to the size of the lesions.
Conclusion: For detection of recurrent colorectal carcinoma, a 2-D coincidence gamma camera with 19 mm thick crystals and optimized acquisition and reconstruction parameters provides similar results in terms of accuracy, both per patient and per site, to those of an Nal PET camera.