Is dedicated chest CT needed in addition to PET/CT for evaluation of pediatric oncology patients?

PurposeTo assess the computed tomography (CT) portion of a positron emission tomography (PET)/CT, at lower dose without breath holding, as compared to diagnostic chest CT (dCTC), performed at regular dose with breath holding, and question the necessity of both for patient care in pediatric oncology.Materials and MethodsThis retrospective study included 46 pediatric patients with histologically proven malignant tumors that had a total of 119 scans.ResultsA total of 29 discrepancies were found between dCTC and PET/CT reports.ConclusionIn the evaluation of metastatic thoracic disease in pediatric oncology patients, the non-breath holding CT portion of PET/CT has sensitivity and specificity that approaches dCTC.