previously published methods with a dedicated PET/CT image analysis program
(Extended Brilliance Workspace (Philips Electronics, Andover,
Massachusetts). [20 (link)] Splenic
18F-FDG uptake [6 (link),
21 (link)] was measured by placing a
single ROI with a volume of 8.0 cm3 within the homogenous-splenic
margin and a single maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax)
was taken. Bone marrow 18F-FDG uptake was measured by placing ROI
over axial sections within individual vertebrae (T1 to L5) (
individual vertebrae was taken. For analysis and results, splenic and BM
18F-FDG uptake was then corrected for mean venous background
by dividing the spleen and BM tissue SUVmax by the average
supervisor vena cava SUVmean and reported as the
target-to-background ratio. Mean and maximum SUVs were generated using a
dedicated PET/CT image analysis program (Extended Brilliance Workspace
(Philips Electronics, Andover, Massachusetts).