The relationships between bone marrow trephine biopsy findings and Fluorine-18 Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography (F-18 FDG PET-CT) scan bone marrow uptake in Hodgkin’s lymphoma at initial staging.

Abstract

Fluorine-18 Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography (F-18 FDG PET-CT) is now established in the staging, restaging and therapy response monitoring of Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL) and high grade Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HG NHL), specifically for nodal disease and extra-nodal disease excluding the bone marrow. The role of FDG PET-CT for evaluating bone marrow involvement in HL and HG NHL has not been established yet. There are however several publications on this subject but no consensus has been reached. Bone marrow trephine biopsy (BMB) is the gold standard for bone marrow assessment in lymphoma. Although the occurrence of adverse effects is uncommon, BMB is an invasive procedure that may induce anxiety in patients. A retrospective review of FDG PET-CT bone marrow findings of HL patients referred for a staging scan from June 2008 to January 2014 was done, these findings were compared to the BMB findings also done as part of initial staging. The findings of 55 patients were reviewed analysed.