Quantitative information in PET should be considered less falsely reduced in lesions larger than what size?

In the context of positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, quantitative analysis of lesions is sensitive to the size of the lesions being evaluated. Studies have shown that lesions larger than 30 mm tend to provide more reliable quantitative data because they are less affected by factors that can introduce variability in measurements, such as partial volume effects and poor spatial resolution.

Partial volume effects refer to the phenomenon where smaller lesions may not capture all the emitted signals from the radiotracer due to their size, leading to an underestimation of their metabolic activity. This effect is more pronounced in lesions that are smaller than 30 mm, which can result in a significant reduction in the perceived uptake values (SUVs). In contrast, larger lesions provide a greater volume from which to sample, thereby minimizing these inaccuracies.

Thus, when considering the reliability of quantitative PET data, lesions exceeding 30 mm in size tend to yield measurements that are less prone to being falsely reduced, making this size threshold a critical point in PET imaging analysis.