Use of benzodiazepines before (18)F-FDG-PET/CT dual-phase imaging does not decrease the efficacy of the study

PURPOSE: We aimed to investigate whether administration of benzodiazepines decreases the efficacy of fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography PET/CT) ((18)F-FDG-PET/CT) dual-phase imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighteen patients with malignant tumors who were administered 0.5 mg alprazolam before undergoing (18)F-FDG-PET/CT scan (group A) and 21 patients with malignant tumors who were not administered alprazolam before (18)F-FDG-PET/CT scan (group B) were included in this study. Forty lesions from the 18 patients in group A and 66 lesions from the 21 patients in group B were evaluated. Initial “early” whole-body imaging commenced 60 ± 5 minutes after injection of (18)F-FDG and delayed scan was obtained 120 ± 10 minutes after the injection. Maximum standardized uptake values (SUVs) were obtained by drawing three-dimensional regions of interest (ROIs) around each lesion on the early study and the corresponding lesion on the delayed study. RESULTS: The average SUV(max) in lesions in group A (mean ± S.D.) was 10.2 ± 6.4 on early examination (SUV(max) E) and 12.6 ± 7.6 on delayed examination (SUV(max) D). There was a significant difference between these two time points (P < 0.05). Similarly, for the lesions in group B, the average uptake values were 9.3 ± 5.2 (SUV(max) E) and 11.2 ± 6.5 (SUV(max) D). The increase in these values was significant as it was in group A (P < 0.05). Differences between groups A and B for the variables SUV(max) E, SUV(max) D were not significant statistically (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Benzodiazepines do not adversely affect the efficacy of the dual-phase FDG-PET imaging technique.