Introduction: 3,4-Dihydroxy-6-[18F]-fluoro-l-phenylalanine (FDOPA) positron emission tomography (PET) is sensitive for identifying primary brain tumors. However, increased FDOPA uptake has been reported in pseudotumoral brain lesions. Our aim was to analyse FDOPA-PET in patients with pseudotumoral brain lesions and to compare them with patients with brain tumors. Methods: We retrospectively analysed consecutively recruited patients with suspected primary brain tumor (based on clinical and magnetic resonance imaging findings) referred for FDOPA-PET in our centre between November 2013 and June 2019 (n = 74). FDOPA-PET parameters (maximum and mean lesion standardised uptake values [SUV] and ratios comparing lesion with different background uptake SUV) and thresholds were evaluated to determine which offered optimal discrimination between pseudotumoral and tumoral lesions. Results: Overlapping PET values were observed between pseudotumoral (n = 26) and tumoral (n = 48) lesion, particularly for low-grade tumors. Based on receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses, the optimal PET parameters to discriminate pseudotumoral from tumoral lesions were SUVmax lesion/basal ganglia, SUVmax lesion/grey matter, SUVmean lesion/grey matter, and SUVmax lesion/mirror area in contralateral hemisphere (all ratios showing area under the curve [AUC] 0.85, 95% CI). The narrowest 95% sensitivity–95% specificity window was observed for SUVmax lesion/basal ganglia ratio, with ratio values of 0.79 and 1.35 corresponding to 95% sensitivity and 95% specificity, respectively. Conclusion: FDOPA-PET uptake should be interpreted with caution in patients with suspected primary brain tumor, especially in patients showing low or intermediate SUV values and ratios. Clinical Trial Registration-URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT04306484.
CITATION STYLE
Renard, D., Collombier, L., Laurent-Chabalier, S., Mura, T., Le Floch, A., Fertit, H. E., … Guillamo, J. S. (2021). 18F-FDOPA-PET in pseudotumoral brain lesions. Journal of Neurology, 268(4), 1266–1275. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-020-10269-9
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