Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
SARCOIDOSIS VASCULITIS AND DIFFUSE LUNG DISEASES, sa.4, 2024 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Background: Sarcoidosis is a granulomatous disease of unknown origin. Conventional laboratory and imaging modalities may lead to equivocal conclusions for sarcoidosis diagnosis. 68 Ga-citrate PET/CT has been utilized in the diagnosis of inflammatory and infectious diseases due to its better diagnostic yield. Objectives: This study was designed to determine the clinical trenchancy of a novel tracer 68 Ga-citrate in sarcoidosis patients as an alternative radiopharmaceutical that binds to the somatostatin receptors of the inflammatory cells in sarcoid granulomas because current laboratory and imaging modalities may occasionally lack accuracy for sarcoidosis diagnosis. Conventional laboratory data including the clinic, serum biochemistry, and thorax CT findings were compared with the 18 F-FDG PET/CT and 68 Ga-citrate PET/CT imaging manifestations to evaluate the diagnostic yield of each modality in sarcoidosis. Methods: Forty-four sarcoidosis patients were included in the study. Conventional laboratory investigation and thorax CT were performed in 44 while 68 Ga-citrate PET/CT and 18 F-FDG PET/CT were done in 22 patients. Findings of each modality were analyzed in regard to the diagnostic yield for granulomatous activity assessment, extrapulmonary organ involvement identification, and detection of coexistent malignant disease in sarcoidosis patients. Results: 68 Ga-citrate PET/CT revealed a significantly higher diagnostic yield for sarcoidosis compared to conventional laboratory and 18 F-FDG-PET/CT imaging modalities. 68 Ga-citrate PET/CT revealed 72.7% sensitivity for the detection of granulomatous inflammation that was consistent with the final diagnosis of sarcoidosis. Diagnostic yield for biopsy site determination, discrimination between active inflammation and fibrosis was significantly higher by 68 Ga-citrate PET/CT. 18 F-FDG only displayed a slightly higher clinical expediency over 68 Ga-citrate for diagnosis of malignancy. Conclusions: 68 Ga-citrate PET/CT was conclusive for the diagnosis, activity assessment, and identification of extrapulmonary organ involvement in sarcoidosis patients. As an innovative novel tracer, 68 Ga-citrate identified disease activity, extrapulmonary organ involvement, and biopsy sites with a higher statistical diagnostic yield compared to the conventional laboratory findings in sarcoidosis due to its more advanced chemical properties. 18 F-FDG only provided a slightly higher clinical yield with a negligible significant statistical difference compared to 68 Ga-citrate for the detection of coexistent malignant disease among sarcoidosis patients.