FDG-PET vs. chemical shift MR imaging in differentiating intertrabecular metastasis from hematopoietic bone marrow hyperplasia

PURPOSE: To evaluate the utility of SUVmax on FDG-PET and chemical shift imaging (CSI) on MRI in the differentiation of intertrabecular metastasis (ITM) from hematopoietic bone marrow hyperplasia (HBMH). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated 54 indeterminate focal bone marrow lesions in 44 patients detected on FDG-PET. The lesions were assigned to the metastasis group (M group, 29 lesions of 24 patients) and the non-metastasis group (non-M group, 25 lesions of 20 patients) based on the follow-up or the histopathological studies. The lesions were assessed with the maximum standardized uptake value (SUV(max)) on FDG-PET CT images and signal change ratio (SCR) on CSI. RESULTS: The median SUV(max) were 5.62 and 2.91; the median SCR were − 0.08 and − 34.8 in M and non-M groups respectively, with significant difference (p < 0.001). With ROC curve analysis, the optimal cutoff value of SUV(max) was 4.48 with a sensitivity of 72.4%, a specificity of 100%, and AUC of 0.905. The cutoff value of SCR was − 6.15 with a sensitivity of 82.8%, a specificity of 80%, and AUC of 0.818. CONCLUSION: FDG-PET and CSI on MRI are useful in distinguishing ITM from HBMH. Though their sensitivities are similar, the specificity of FDG-PET was higher than that of MRI.