Usefulness of positron emission tomography-computed tomography in pre-operative evaluation of XXXX .

@entity1 @entity5 @entity1600 @entity418 @entity3 @entity1030
BACKGROUND: The purpose of the study was to clarify the usefulness of positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) for pre-operative evaluation of @entity418 , especially in terms of regional lymph node status. METHODS: Medical records of 93 consecutive cases from July 2007 to October 2012 were retrospectively reviewed. All @entity1 underwent curative and complete esophagectomies for @entity418 . We compared pre-operative maximum standard uptake values (SUVmax) of @entity5 and regional @entity1600 ( @entity1600 ) with other variables ( @entity1030 , history of previous other primary @entity5 , gender, differentiation, and neoadjuvant therapy). In addition, the SUVmax of @entity5 and LNs were analyzed with pathologic findings. RESULTS: There was no significant difference of each @entity5 and @entity1600 SUVmax according to factors including @entity1030 , age, history of previous other @entity5 , differentiation, and gender. Pre-operative evaluations by PET-CT were not accurate ( @entity5 sensitivity 76.4%, specificity 25%; @entity1600 sensitivity 45.2%, specificity 54.8%). Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that @entity1600 @entity3 could not be appropriately diagnosed with SUVmax (P   =   0.871). There was no difference in SUVmax between pathologically positive and negative @entity1600 subgroups. Tumor SUVmax correlated with the progression of @entity418 in @entity1 without neoadjuvant therapy (P   <   0.001). However, @entity1600 SUVmax had no correlation with overall pathologic stage. After neoadjuvant therapy, there were significant decreases in SUVmax in both pathologically positive and negative @entity1600 subgroups (P   =   0.043, P   =   0.008). CONCLUSION: Surgery should not be withheld in N-stage according to PET-CT findings and carefully considered in conjunction with other conditions.
