A comparative study on ~(67)Ga-Cit imaging and CT or MRI in diagnosis of maxillofacial neoplasms

Objective To evaluate the clinical value of 67 Ga-Citrate(Cit) imaging and CT or MRI in diagnosis of maxillofacial neoplasms. Methods Before surgery, 71 patients with maxillofacial neoplasms were studied with 67 Ga-Cit imaging and CT or MRI. All results were compared with pathological findings. Results ①In 36 patients with benign maxillofacial mass, 28 cases were with negative 67 Ga-Cit imaging (77.8%, 28/36), whereas 8 cases with positive results (22.2%, 8/36); in 35 patients with malignant tumors, 33 cases with positive 67 Ga-Cit imaging (94.3%, 33/35), whereas 2 cases with negative results (5.7%, 2/35). ②For CT or MRI, in 24 patients with benign maxillofacial mass, only 4 cases were found in concordance with pathological findings (16.7%, 4/24), but in 24 patients with malignant maxillofacial tumors, 6 cases were found in concordance with pathological findings(25.0%, 6/24). In the differentiating malignant maxillofacial tumors from benign ones, there was significant difference in accuracy between these modalities ( χ 2=21.60, 19.91, both were P 0.01). For the assessment of tumor size, there was no difference among the three modalities ( χ 2=1.28, 0.26 and 1.76, respectively, all were P 0.05). Conclusion The accuracy of 67 Ga-Cit imaging in differentiating malignant maxillofacial tumors from benign ones is significantly higher than that of CT or MRI.