Head-to-head comparison among 18F-choline PET/CT, 4D contrast-enhanced CT, and 18F-choline PET/4D contrast-enhanced CT in the detection of hyperfunctioning parathyroid glands: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

In primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT), the localization of hyperfunctioning parathyroid gland (HPTG) allows tailored surgery. Although Four-Dimensional Contrast-enhanced Computed Tomography (4DCeCT) and 18F-choline Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (PET/CT) are reported to be promising second-line imaging procedures, no meta-analysis of their comparison exists. we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to find original papers reporting the head-to-head comparison of 4DCeCT, 18F-choline PET/CT and integrated 18F-choline-PET/4DCeCT. this systematic review was conducted according to PRISMA. PubMed, CENTRAL, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched until January 2021. Studies comparing the ability of 4DCeCT, 18F-choline PET/CT and 18F-choline PET/4DCeCT to identify HPTG in patients with PHPT were selected. A per patient-based analysis of the three procedures was conducted in all patients (detection rate, DR) and in those with histologically confirmed HPTG (sensitivity). Of the 78 records identified, five articles (153 PHPT patients) published between January the 1st, 2018 and January the 31st, 2021 were included. The pooled DR of 18F-choline PET/CT, 4DCeCT and 18F-choline PET/4DCeCT was 0.86, 0.69, and 0.86, respectively, while their pooled sensitivity was 0.89, 0.77 and 0.93, respectively. The analysis of pooled discrepancy showed that the sensitivity of 18F-choline PET/CT and 18F-choline PET/4DCeCT was higher than that of 4DCeCT by 0.11 and 0.13, respectively, the sensitivity of 18F-choline PET/4DCeCT being 0.06 higher than that of 18F-Choline PET/CT. This meta-analysis suggests that the sensitivity of 18F-choline PET/CT and 18F-choline PET/4DCeCT is higher than that of 4DCeCT, while only a slight difference was observed between 18F-choline PET/CT and 18F-choline PET/4DCeCT.