Abstract:Objective To evaluate the value of PET-CT dual phase imaging in the diagnosis of solitary pulmonary nodules (SPN). Methods A total of 152 cases of SPN in our hospital from July 2014 to December 2015 were selected. All of them were performed with 18F-FDG PET-CT examination. And the benign and malignant nodules were confirmed by pathological diagnosis after surgery. The differences of the early SUVmax value, the delay period SUVmax value, metabolic retention index and the display rate of tumor image were compared between the patients with benign and malignant nodules. ROC curve of SUVmax value for differential diagnosis of benign and malignant SPN was analyzed. Results In the 152 patients with SPN, 92 cases of malignant nodule and 60 cases of benign nodules were confirmed by histopathology after operation. The early SUVmax value (7.86 ± 3.15), the delay period SUVmax value (9.03 ± 3.49) and the metabolic retention index (20.59 ± 12.87) of the malignant nodules were higher than those of the benign nodules [(3.36 ± 2.88), (3.12 ± 2.64) and (10.46 ± 3.59) respectively], and the differences had statistical significance (P < 0.05). The display rate of lobulation sign, spiculation sign, vessel convergence sign and vacuole sign in the malignant nodules was higher than that of the benign nodules, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The area under ROC curve of the early SUVmax value was 70.07 (57.95-82.19), the sensitivity and specificity were 52.17% and 96.67% respectively. The area under ROC curve of the delay period SUVmax value was 93.19 (87.69-98.68), the sensitivity and specificity were 93.48% and 83.33% respectively. The area under ROC curve of the metabolic retention index was 87.90 (80.20-95.59), and the sensitivity and specificity were 82.61% and 80.00% respectively. Conclusions PET-CT dual phase imaging has important clinical value in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant pulmonary solitary nodules.