Potential Pitfall in the Assessment of Lung Cancer with FDG-PET/CT: Talc Pleurodesis Causes Intrathoracic Nodal FDG Avidity

Table 1

Patient demographics, stratified by all patients, patients with FDG avid high-attenuation lymph nodes (avid high att. LNs), and patients who do not.

	Total patients		WITH avid high att. LNs		Without avid high att. LNs
Number	44	100%	11	25%	33	75%
Age (years)
Mean	64		59		67
Stdev	12		11		13
Range	34–81		45–74		34–81
Sex
Male	21	47%	6	55%	15	45%
Female	23	53%	5	45%	18	55%
Indication for talc pleurodesis
Malignant pleural effusion	17	39%	4	36%	13	39%
Nonmalignant indication	27	61%	7	64%	20	61%
Indication for PET/CT
Malignancy surveillance	41	93%	11	100%	30	91%
Sarcoidosis	1	2%	0	0%	1	3%
Search for occult malignancy	2	4%	0	0%	2	6%
Histology
NSCLC	40	98%	11	100%	29	97%
SCLC	1	2%	0	0%	1	3%
Stage at initial diagnosis
Stage I	4	10%	2	18%	2	6%
Stage II	4	10%	4	36%	0	0%
Stage III	11	25%	2	18%	9	27%
Stage IV	22	50%	3	28%	19	0.58
Interval from pleurodesis to PET/CT (months)
Mean	28		34		26
Stdev	37		31		38
Range	0–117		0–58		0–117
Clinical followup (months)
Mean	15		12		16
Stdev	11		8		11
Range	0–52		6–38		0–52