To evaluate the diagnostic value of ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT imaging in non-traumatic unilateral vocal cord paralysis (UVCP) and compare the radioactive uptake in different lesions.

Clinical data of 62 patients (49 males, 13 females; age: (61.7±12.8) years) with non-traumatic UVCP (43 cases of left vocal cord paralysis and 19 cases of right) admitted to Ji′an Hospital from January 2016 to December 2018 were analyzed retrospectively. Pathological results, imaging or follow-up results were considered as the standard of final diagnosis. The diagnostic efficacy of PET/CT imaging for the primary cause was analyzed. The maximum standardized uptake values (SUV_max) of vocal cord in patients with different etiology were compared by independent-sample t test.

According to the final diagnosis, the primary causes of UVCP were as follows: malignant tumors (n=44), inflammation (n=16), glomus jugulare tumor (n=1) and idiopathic UVCP (n=1). The diagnostic accuracy of PET/CT imaging for the primary cause was 90.32%(56/62): 44 cases were correctly diagnosed as malignant tumors, while 11 cases as inflammation, and 1 case as glomus jugulare tumor. Among 62 patients, 29 patients had increased SUV_max in the affected side (direct invasion group; further divided into tumor group (n=12) and non-tumor group (n=17)), and other 33 patients had increased SUV_max in the healthy side (indirect invasion group). SUV_max of the affected vocal cord in direct invasion group was higher than that in the healthy side (9.97±5.21 vs 2.43±0.62; t=8.14, P<0.01). The differences between affected side and healthy side in the tumor group (14.92±3.91vs 2.84±0.54) and the non-tumor group (6.48±2.48 vs 2.14±0.50) were statistically significant (t values: 9.94, 7.93, both P<0.01). In the indirect invasion group, SUV_max in the affected side of vocal cord was significantly lower than the healthy side (1.89±0.35 vs 6.97±2.63; t=11.44, P<0.01). There were significant differences in radioactive uptake between affected side of direct invasion group and healthy side of indirect invasion group (t=2.86, P<0.01), affected sides of tumor group and non-tumor group (t=7.46, P<0.01), affected side of tumor group and healthy side of indirect invasion group (t=6.07, P<0.01). But the radioactive uptake difference between affected side of non-tumor group and healthy side of indirect invasion group was not statistically significant (t=0.51, P>0.05).

¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT imaging has high diagnostic value in pathogenic diagnosis of non-traumatic UVCP. The different radioactive uptake of vocal cords in the affected side and the healthy side provides more accurate etiological information for clinical analysis.

Vocal cord paralysis; Positron-emission tomography; Tomography, X-ray computed; Deoxyglucose