Comparison of Conventional Clinical and Laboratory Findings with 18F-FDG PET/CT and 68Ga Citrate PET/CT in terms of Diagnostic Utility and Disease Activity Among Sarcoidosis Patients

Aim: The aim of this study is to compare the traditional clinical and laboratory parameters used for the diagnosis and activity of sarcoidosis with ⁶⁸Ga citrate PET/CT and ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT findings. Material and Method: 19 ⁶⁸Ga citrate PET/CT scans and 20 ⁶⁸Ga citrate PET/CT and ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT scans of both patients were included in the study. Demographic features of the cases, clinical findings, chest X-ray, Thorax CT, respiratory function tests, laboratory results, bronchoscopic and extrapulmonary organ biopsies, ⁶⁸Ga citrate PET/CT and ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT scan results retrospectively. The obtained data were uploaded to computer systems. Analysis was performed using statistical methods. Conclusion: A statistically significant difference was found between ⁶⁸Ga Citrate PET/CT result and acceptance of active sarcoidosis (p=0.001), acceptance of clinical sarcoidosis (p=0.029), and probability of sarcoidosis (p=0.020). There was no statistically significant difference between the ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT and ⁶⁸Ga Citrate PET/CT results of patients who were accepted as clinical sarcoidosis (p=0.1000). Extrathoracic involvement was detected in %44,4 of 18 patients with active sarcoidosis in ⁶⁸Ga citrate PET/CT. The cost advantage of ⁶⁸Ga Citrate PET/CT has been demonstrated. Results: The success of ⁶⁸Ga citrate PET/CT has been proven in the diagnosis of sarcoidosis, activation and detection of extrathoracic involvement and determination of biopsy sites. No significant difference was found in the comparison with ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT