a pilot study of fdg-pet/ct in polycythemia vera using global analysis techniques

Objective(s): functional imaging presents a non-invasive process that may capture the hyper-metabolic nature of red bone marrow in myeloproliferative neoplasms, such as polycythemia vera (pv). methods: this study analyzed the fdg-pet/ct scans (n=12) of six patients diagnosed with pv and six age-sex matched controls using a quantitative global analysis methodology. results: all pv patients had elevated activities in the bone marrow of each skeletal structure as compared to matched controls with respect to mean standardized uptake value (femoral neck p=0.01, lumbar spine p=0.02, pelvis p=0.002, sternum p=0.04). notable variations in splenic uptake were observed among the treated and untreated pv patients. conclusion: our study exemplifies the potential utility of pet in reflecting hyperactive bone marrow activity related to pv. future studies may further substantiate and elaborate on the use of pet-derived metabolic data in pv.