Hi,
Dennis went in for a routine CT with a PET this week. Long story short, we have an area that is suspicious for a recurrance, but is only showing as a swelling in the airway and no visual symptoms at this point. The ENT ran the scope and can't see anything different than he has seen since dx. The ENT doesn't want to do a biopsy because he is certain that with all the RAD changes, his airway would swell and a trach would have to be inserted. My question is, at what point does the SUV numbers mean anything? Dennis' are at a 2. I've heard different definitions.
Thanks guys,
Mandi

Don't know enough about the SUV numbers to help you Mandi. I can tell you I will be hoping you post in the near future that it was something minor. Going thru this once is enough.

Love Ya, Danny Boy

Mandi
Like Danny Boy I don't know enough to advise you, but no-one wants a trachie unless they have to, most times it's fine but sometimes there are problems.. Please keep us updated..
Sunshine.. love and hugs
Helen

Hi Mandi.

I did a search on SUV and had a list of 12. Most were talking about trucks but the one dated Feb 18. 2004 referred to the SUV numbers you needed info on. Brian Hill answered and referred that the lower the SUV number the better. Back than mine were running from 4.4 to 5.5 or around there. Hope this helps you.

Hang in there Michelle, Say Hi to Dennis, Shane and Cole. Hope school is going well for you.

Love Ya, Danny Boy

LOL...Danny, you always make me smile! I love ya!!!! I did a search also, and came up with the same truck stuff. Now, if I needed information

LOL...Danny, you always make me smile! I love ya!!!! I did a search also, and came up with the same truck stuff. Now, if I needed information on my Ford, I can bet you I'd come up with PET numbers!!!
Brian seems to confirm what I've learned since I posted. A SUV score of under three is just "suspicious". Usually a three or over indicates an active tumor. We are in a holding pattern and will follow up with the ENT in a month.
School is hard, but so rewarding. I feel like I'm just a little bit ahead of my fellow classmates though....Dennis' cancer has given me a crash course in alot of what I'm studying. God certainly does w

IN GENERAL, BUT NOT ABSOLUTELY.... SUV's of under 3.5 are not good indicators of malignancy, above that you start to think it is a possibility, over 4.5 and it is likely, but again this is not an absolute diagnositic science. Once again- these numbers are not absolutes!!!! So don't hold me or anyone else to this. PET's, as we have stated many times before, are not a diagnostic tool for malignancy, but glucose burn. When combined with a CT that shows encapulation or something else they are very helpful in determining if something is going south or not. Acute infection and other pathologies can cause PET's to highlight an area. They are one tool in trying to figure out , without biopsy what is going on. In diferential diagnosis you are trying to use as many tools as possible to fill in the blanks. Some of those tools are not even part of medicine but part of interviews with the patient. Has he ever, or did he continue to engage in known risk factors, are there other symspotoms that might be indicative of a different avenue of thought, a fever for infection...etc. Diagnosis without biopsy is part art and part educated guessing. Differential diagnosis is the selection of the most likely choice by comparing it to other likely choices. SUV's are just one piece of the puzzle, by themselves, and without collaborating additional data they are not conclusive. By the by Danny, your post was essentially correct, and where the lines are drawn in the numerical results meaning malignancy or not, vary from diagnostic center to center. There are published guidlines for radiologists, from which I took my information, but 2 institutions that I respect, have a different scale,,,,,it isn't a pure and absolute science.

Should have put a disclaimer on that last post Brian. I understand the SUV numbers may vary from one person to the next and it may not mean anything different. Hoping Dennis is just fine.

Danny Boy

I am the dunce in the class (given) but what does SUV stand for? (other than Sport utility vehicle or super underwear ventilator, or stashed under vest, or still undressing valerie, or shady underhanded villan, or standing up verticle .......)???? (Yes I am corny)

Cindy