PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Ingo Janssen AU - Clara C. Chen AU - David Taieb AU - Nicholas J. Patronas AU - Corina M. Millo AU - Karen T. Adams AU - Joan Nambuba AU - Peter Herscovitch AU - Samira M. Sadowski AU - Antonio T. Fojo AU - Inga Buchmann AU - Electron Kebebew AU - Karel Pacak TI - <sup>68</sup>Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT in the Localization of Head and Neck Paragangliomas Compared with Other Functional Imaging Modalities and CT/MRI AID - 10.2967/jnumed.115.161018 DP - 2016 Feb 01 TA - Journal of Nuclear Medicine PG - 186--191 VI - 57 IP - 2 4099 - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/57/2/186.short 4100 - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/57/2/186.full SO - J Nucl Med2016 Feb 01; 57 AB - Pheochromocytomas/paragangliomas overexpress somatostatin receptors, and recent studies have already shown excellent results in the localization of sympathetic succinate dehydrogenase complex, subunit B, mutation-related metastatic pheochromocytomas/paragangliomas using 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT. Therefore, the goal of our study was to assess the clinical utility of this functional imaging modality in parasympathetic head and neck paragangliomas (HNPGLs) compared with anatomic imaging with CT/MRI and other functional imaging modalities, including 18F-fluorohydroyphenylalanine (18F-FDOPA) PET/CT, currently the gold standard in the functional imaging of HNPGLs. Methods: 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT was prospectively performed in 20 patients with HNPGLs. All patients also underwent 18F-FDOPA PET/CT, 18F-FDG PET/CT, and CT/MRI, with 18 patients also undergoing 18F-fluorodopamine (18F-FDA) PET/CT. 18F-FDOPA PET/CT and CT/MRI served as the imaging comparators. Results: Thirty-eight lesions in 20 patients were detected, with 18F-FDOPA PET/CT identifying 37 of 38 and CT/MRI identifying 23 of 38 lesions (P &lt; 0.01). All 38 and an additional 7 lesions (P = 0.016) were detected on 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT. Significantly fewer lesions were identified by 18F-FDG PET/CT (24/38, P &lt; 0.01) and 18F-FDA PET/CT (10/34, P &lt; 0.01). Conclusion: 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT identified more lesions than other imaging modalities. With the results of the present study, and the increasing availability and use of DOTA analogs in the therapy of neuroendocrine tumors, we expect that 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT will become the preferred functional imaging modality for HNPGLs in the near future.