18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography in the diagnosis of benign pulmonary lesions in sarcoidosis

Background: Many benign pulmonary lesions, especially sarcoidosis, are metabolically active and are indistinguishable from lung cancer using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) imaging. This study sought to analyze the 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging features of benign pulmonary lesions and to improve the differential diagnosis of benign pulmonary lesions by 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging. Methods: One hundred and thirteen patients with benign pulmonary lesions were studied retrospectively. Each patient underwent an 18F-FDG PET/CT scan. All cases were identified by pathology, diagnostic therapy or follow-up. The maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) was calculated for each pulmonary lesion. Results: According to the final results, the benign pulmonary lesions were classified as inflammatory lesions (n=77) and granulomas (n=36) by histopathological diagnoses. The SUVmax of inflammatory lesions and granulomas were both high (4.55 +/- 2.77 and 6.81 +/- 3.96, respectively; P<0.05). When the benign pulmonary lesions were classified by clinical diagnoses, the SUVmax of sarcoidosis was significantly different from other diseases (15.12 +/- 5.67; P<0.01) Conclusions: Inflammatory lesions and granulomas show moderate or high FI)G uptake on 18F-FI)G PET/CT, but granulomas have higher values. 18F-FDG PET/CT appeared to have a higher SUVmax for the differential diagnosis of sarcoidosis and benign pulmonary lesions.