68Ga-citrate PET/CT for evaluating patients with infections of the bone: preliminary results.

Abstract

The aim of this work was to preliminarily evaluate the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and overall accuracy of (68)Ga-citrate PET/CT in a population of patients with suspected bone infections. We enrolled 31 patients with suspected osteomyelitis or diskitis who underwent a total of forty (68)Ga-citrate PET/CT scans. The results were compared with different combinations of diagnostic procedures (MRI, radiography, CT, or white blood cell scintigraphy), biopsy (when diagnostic), and follow-up data (at least 1 y) to determine the performance of (68)Ga-citrate PET/CT. We found a sensitivity of 100%, a specificity of 76%, a positive predictive value of 85%, a negative predictive value of 100%, and an overall accuracy of 90%. Although preliminary, these data confirm a possible role for (68)Ga-citrate in the diagnosis of bone infections, especially in consideration of its favorable characteristics.