Diagnostic performance of [ 68 Ga]DOTATATE PET/CT, [ 18 F]FDG PET/CT, MRI of the spine, and whole-body diagnostic CT and MRI in the detection of spinal bone metastases associated with pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the diagnostic performance of [68 Ga]DOTATATE PET/CT, [18 F]FDG PET/CT, MRI of the spine, and whole-body CT and MRI for the detection of pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma (PPGL)-related spinal bone metastases.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between 2014 and 2020, PPGL participants with spinal bone metastases prospectively underwent [68 Ga]DOTATATE PET/CT, [18 F]FDG PET/CT, MRI of the cervical-thoracolumbar spine (MRIspine ), contrast-enhanced MRI of the neck and thoraco-abdominopelvic regions (MRIWB ), and contrast-enhanced CT of the neck and thoraco-abdominopelvic regions (CTWB ). Per-patient and per-lesion detection rates were calculated. Counting of spinal bone metastases was limited to a maximum of one lesion per vertebrae. A composite of all functional and anatomic imaging served as an imaging comparator. The McNemar test compared detection rates between the scans. Two-sided p values were reported.

RESULTS: Forty-three consecutive participants (mean age, 41.7 ± 15.7 years; females, 22) with MRIspine were included who also underwent [68 Ga]DOTATATE PET/CT (n = 43), [18 F]FDG PET/CT (n = 43), MRIWB (n = 24), and CTWB (n = 33). Forty-one of 43 participants were positive for spinal bone metastases, with 382 lesions on the imaging comparator. [68 Ga]DOTATATE PET/CT demonstrated a per-lesion detection rate of 377/382 (98.7%) which was superior compared to [18 F]FDG (72.0%, 275/382, p < 0.001), MRIspine (80.6%, 308/382, p < 0.001), MRIWB (55.3%, 136/246, p < 0.001), and CTWB (44.8%, 132/295, p < 0.001). The per-patient detection rate of [68 Ga]DOTATATE PET/CT was 41/41 (100%) which was higher compared to [18 F]FDG PET/CT (90.2%, 37/41, p = 0.13), MRIspine (97.6%, 40/41, p = 1.00), MRIWB (95.7%, 22/23, p = 1.00), and CTWB (81.8%, 27/33, p = 0.03).

CONCLUSIONS: [68 Ga]DOTATATE PET/CT should be the modality of choice in PPGL-related spinal bone metastases due to its superior detection rate.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT: In a prospective study of 43 pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma participants with spinal bone metastases, [68 Ga]DOTATATE PET/CT had a superior per-lesion detection rate of 98.7% (377/382), compared to [18 F]FDG PET/CT (p < 0.001), MRI of the spine (p < 0.001), whole-body CT (p < 0.001), and whole-body MRI (p < 0.001).

KEY POINTS: • Data regarding head-to-head comparison between functional and anatomic imaging modalities to detect spinal bone metastases in pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma are limited. • [68 Ga]DOTATATE PET/CT had a superior per-lesion detection rate of 98.7% in the detection of spinal bone metastases associated with pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma compared to other imaging modalities: [18 ]F-FDG PET/CT, MRI of the spine, whole-body CT, and whole-body MRI. • [68 Ga]DOTATATE PET/CT should be the modality of choice in the evaluation of spinal bone metastases associated with pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma.