The Utility of (68)Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT in Localizing Primary/Metastatic Pheochromocytoma and Paraganglioma: Asian Indian Experience

PURPOSE: Pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma (PGL), together called PPGL, are rare tumors with a limited number of studies on the diagnostic performance of (68)Ga-DOTA (0)-Tyr (3)-octreotate positron emission tomography-computed tomography ((68)Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT) from the Asian-Indian subcontinent. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this retrospective study, PPGL suspects (n = 87) who had undergone at least contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) and (68)Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT, were included. Lesion-wise, patient-wise, and region-wise sensitivities of (68)Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT, (18)F fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography CT ((18)F-FDG PET/CT, n = 53), (131)I-metaiodobenzylguanidine ((131)I-MIBG, n = 37), and CECT were compared, and diagnostic performance of (68)Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT in the detection of PPGL was calculated. RESULTS: (68)Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT had significantly higher lesion-wise sensitivity than (131)I-MIBG for both primary (94% vs 75%, P = 0.004) and metastatic disease (85% vs 59%, P = 0.001) and higher sensitivity than CECT for metastatic lesions (83% vs 43%, P = 0.0001). The lesion-wise sensitivity of (68)Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT was similar to (18)F-FDG PET/CT for both primary tumors (94% vs 85%, P = 0.08) and metastatic lesions (82% vs 84%, P = 0.76) in the whole cohort but tended to be inferior in the head to head comparison. CONCLUSION: (68)Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT had higher sensitivity for detection of PPGL than (131)I-MIBG (primary and metastatic) and CECT (metastatic) but similar to (18)F-FDG PET/CT (primary and metastatic).