Comparison between Efficacy of Triphasic CT and FDG-PET in the Follow-Up Evaluation of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the efficacy of FDG PET as compared to triphasic CT in diagnosing the residing or reoccurred tumor lesions of HCC following TACE therapy.

Study Design: A cross-sectional study

Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at the department of radiology and oncology department of Nishtar Medical University & Hospital Multan from April 2020 to April 2021 for a period of 01 year.

Materials and Methods: After passing through the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 35 patients diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma and undergoing TACE were evaluated for residing or reoccurred tumor lesions through FDG-PET and triphasic-CT. Image analysis for each imaging modality was done by following a standard protocol. Imaging, clinical, and laboratory findings were used as a reference for validating the accuracy of the data. SPSS was used for statistical analysis.

Results: Analysis of reference data demonstrated proved 23 (65.7%) true positive cases. Whereas FDG-PET had shown positivity in 26 (74.2%) and triphasic-CT had positivity in 27 (77.1%) patients. FDG-PET has a sensitivity of 100%, specificity of 65.7%, a positive predictive value of 88.4%, and a negative predictive value of 100%. Whereas, triphasic-CT has a sensitivity of 80.5%, specificity of 65.2%, a positive predictive value of 85.1%, and a negative predictive value of 66.6%.

Conclusion: The study found better accuracy of FDG-PET in detecting residing or reoccurred HCC tumor lesions than triphasic CT.