Diagnostische Genauigkeit der 18F-FDG PET bzw. PET/CT für Vaskulitiden großer Gefäße: Eine Metaanalyse

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography (18F-FDG PET) or positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) for patients with large vessel vasculitis. Methods: Based on a search in the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases, a meta-analysis was performed on the diagnostic accuracy of 18F-FDG PET or PET/CT in patients with large vessel vasculitis. Results: A total of eight studies involving 400 subjects (170 vasculitis patients and 230 controls) were selected for meta-analysis. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of 18F-FDG PET or PET/CT were 75.9 % (95 % confidence interval, CI 68.7–82.1) and 93.0 % (95 % CI 88.9–96.0), respectively. The positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) were 7.267 (95 % CI 3.707–14.24), 0.303 (95 % CI 0.229–0.400), and 32.04 (95 % CI 13.08–78.45), respectively. The area under the curve (AUC) was 0.863 and the Q^* index 0.794, indicating good diagnostic accuracy. There was no evidence of a threshold effect (Spearman’s correlation coefficient = 0.120, p = 0.776). When the data were limited to giant cell arteritis (GCA), the pooled sensitivity and specificity of 18F-FDG PET or PET/CT were 83.3 % (95 % CI 72.1–91.4) and 89.6 % (95 % CI 79.7–95.7), respectively; AUC was 0.884, and the Q^* index 0.815, indicating modest accuracy with a small increase in diagnostic accuracy. Conclusion: This meta-analysis of published studies demonstrates that 18F-FDG PET or PET/CT has good diagnostic accuracy for large vessel vasculitis and plays an important role in the diagnosis of this condition.