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Normal cerebral FDG uptake during childhood

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European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Current understanding of cerebral FDG uptake during childhood originates from a small number of studies in patients with neurological abnormalities. Our aim was to describe cerebral FDG uptake in a dataset of FDG PET scans in children more likely to represent a normal population.

Methods

We reviewed cerebral FDG PET scans in children up to 16 years of age with suspected/proven extracranial malignancies and the following exclusions: central nervous system metastases, previous malignancies, previous chemotherapy or radiotherapy, development of cerebral metastases during therapy, neurological conditions, taking antiepileptic medication or medications likely to interfere with cerebral metabolism, and general anaesthesia within 24 h. White matter, basal ganglia, thalamus and the cerebellar cortex were analysed using regional SUVmax, and the cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, thalamus and cerebellum were analysed using a regional relative uptake analysis in comparison to maximal cortical uptake.

Results

Scans from 30 patients (age range 11 months to 16 years, mean age 10 years 5 months) were included. All regions showed increasing SUVmax with age. The parietal, occipital, lateral temporal and medial temporal lobes showed lower rates of increasing FDG uptake causing changing patterns of regional FDG uptake during childhood. The cortical regions showing the most intense uptake in early childhood were the parietal and occipital lobes. At approximately 7 years of age these regions had relatively less uptake than the frontal lobes and at approximately 10 years of age these regions had relatively less uptake than the thalamus.

Conclusion

Relative FDG uptake in the brain has not reached an adult pattern by 1 year of age, but continues to change up to 16 years of age. The changing pattern is due to different regional rates of increasing cortical FDG uptake, which is less rapid in the parietal, occipital and temporal lobes than in the frontal lobes.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the vital assistance of Prof. Roger Uren and Dr. David Chung in the blinded reading of the scans for the relative uptake analysis. We would also acknowledge the funding assistance of an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Biomedical Scholarship, and a New South Wales Cancer Institute Research Scholar Award.

Conflicts of interest

None.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nuclear Medicine, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Corner Hawkesbury Road and Hainsworth Street, Westmead, Sydney, NSW, 2145, Australia

    Kevin London & Robert Howman-Giles

  2. Discipline of Paediatrics and Child Health, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Kevin London

  3. Disciplines of Imaging and Paediatrics and Child Health, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Robert Howman-Giles

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  1. Kevin London
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Correspondence to Kevin London.

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London, K., Howman-Giles, R. Normal cerebral FDG uptake during childhood. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 41, 723–735 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-013-2639-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-013-2639-9

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