Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and Hodgkin Disease: Coregistered FDG PET and CT at Staging and Restaging—Do We Need Contrast-enhanced CT?

Abstract

PURPOSE: To retrospectively compare diagnostic value of coregistered fluorine 18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomographic (PET) and computed tomographic (CT) scans obtained with low-dose nonenhanced CT (PET/CT) with those routinely obtained with contrast material–enhanced CT for staging and restaging of disease in patients with Hodgkin disease or high-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty patients (mean age, 39.6 years ± 17.1 [standard deviation]) with Hodgkin disease (n = 42) or high-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma (n = 18) were included in this retrospective study. All patients underwent PET/CT and contrast-enhanced CT within a maximum of 24 days (mean, 9.1 days ± 7.0) of each other for staging (n = 19) or first follow-up examination (n = 41). Findings were extracted from original written reports (PET/CT, contrast-enhanced CT) and compared with findings of reference standard, which included biopsy or follow-up with clinical, laboratory, or other imaging findings. For statistical an...