PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - John O. Prior
AU  - Nicolas Péguret
AU  - Anastasia Pomoni
AU  - Martin Pappon
AU  - Michele Zeverino
AU  - Bastien Belmondo
AU  - Alban Lovis
AU  - Mahmut Ozsahin
AU  - Monique Vienne
AU  - Jean Bourhis
TI  - Reduction of Respiratory Motion During PET/CT by Pulsatile-Flow Ventilation: A First Clinical Evaluation
AID  - 10.2967/jnumed.115.163386
DP  - 2016 Mar 01
TA  - Journal of Nuclear Medicine
PG  - 416--419
VI  - 57
IP  - 3
4099  - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/57/3/416.short
4100  - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/57/3/416.full
SO  - J Nucl Med2016 Mar 01; 57
AB  - Respiratory motion negatively affects PET/CT image quality and quantitation. A novel Pulsatile-Flow Ventilation (PFV) system reducing respiratory motion was applied in spontaneously breathing patients to induce sustained apnea during PET/CT. Methods: Four patients (aged 65 ± 14 y) underwent PET/CT for pulmonary nodule staging (mean, 11 ± 7 mm; range, 5–18 mm) at 63 ± 3 min after 18F-FDG injection and then at 47 ± 7 min afterward, during PFV-induced apnea (with imaging lasting ≥8.5 min). Anterior–posterior thoracic amplitude, SUVmax, and SUVpeak (SUVmean in a 1-cm-diameter sphere) were compared. Results: PFV PET/CT reduced thoracic amplitude (80%), increased mean lesion SUVmax (29%) and SUVpeak (11%), decreased lung background SUVpeak (25%), improved lesion detectability, and increased SUVpeak lesion-to-background ratio (54%). On linear regressions, SUVmax and SUVpeak significantly improved (by 35% and 23%, respectively; P ≤ 0.02). Conclusion: PFV-induced apnea reduces thoracic organ motion and increases lesion SUV, detectability, and delineation, thus potentially affecting patient management by improving diagnosis, prognostication, monitoring, and external-radiation therapy planning.