RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Early Postoperative 18F-FET PET/MRI for Pediatric Brain and Spinal Cord Tumors JF Journal of Nuclear Medicine JO J Nucl Med FD Society of Nuclear Medicine SP 1053 OP 1058 DO 10.2967/jnumed.118.220293 VO 60 IS 8 A1 Marner, Lisbeth A1 Nysom, Karsten A1 Sehested, Astrid A1 Borgwardt, Lise A1 Mathiasen, René A1 Henriksen, Otto Mølby A1 Lundemann, Michael A1 Munck af Rosenschöld, Per A1 Thomsen, Carsten A1 Bøgeskov, Lars A1 Skjøth-Rasmussen, Jane A1 Juhler, Marianne A1 Kruse, Anders A1 Broholm, Helle A1 Scheie, David A1 Lauritsen, Torsten A1 Forman, Julie Lyng A1 Wehner, Peder Skov A1 Højgaard, Liselotte A1 Law, Ian YR 2019 UL http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/60/8/1053.abstract AB Complete resection is the treatment of choice for most pediatric brain tumors, but early postoperative MRI for detection of residual tumor may be misleading because of MRI signal changes caused by the operation. PET imaging with amino acid tracers in adults increases the diagnostic accuracy for brain tumors, but the literature in pediatric neurooncology is limited. A hybrid PET/MRI system is highly beneficial in children, reducing the number of scanning procedures, and this is to our knowledge the first larger study using PET/MRI in pediatric neurooncology. We evaluated if additional postoperative 18F-fluoro-ethyl-tyrosine (18F-FET) PET in children and adolescents would improve diagnostic accuracy for the detection of residual tumor as compared with MRI alone and would assist clinical management. Methods: Twenty-two patients (7 male; mean age, 9.5 y; range, 0–19 y) were included prospectively and consecutively in the study and had 27 early postoperative 18F-FET PET exams performed preferentially in a hybrid PET/MRI system (NCT03402425). Results: Using follow-up (93%) or reoperation (7%) as the reference standard, PET combined with MRI discriminated tumor from treatment effects with a lesion-based sensitivity/specificity/accuracy (95% confidence intervals) of 0.73 (0.50–1.00)/1.00 (0.74–1.00)/0.87 (0.73–1.00) compared with MRI alone: 0.80 (0.57–1.00)/0.75 (0.53–0.94)/0.77 (0.65–0.90); that is, the specificity for PET/MRI was 1.00 as compared with 0.75 for MRI alone (P = 0.13). In 11 of 27 cases (41%), results from the 18F-FET PET scans added relevant clinical information, including one scan that directly influenced clinical management because an additional residual tumor site was identified. 18F-FET uptake in reactive changes was frequent (52%), but correct interpretation was possible in all cases. Conclusion: The high specificity for detecting residual tumor suggests that supplementary 18F-FET PET is relevant in cases where reoperation for residual tumor is considered.