Francesco Erdini

Dr. Francesco Erdini


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

2Years (2025-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

View All Publications
9 October 2026 in Brain Sciences
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
PBPier Paolo Berti
Pier Paolo Berti
ASAlessandro Spimpolo
Alessandro Spimpolo
LLLeda Lorenzon
Leda Lorenzon
DDDavide Drusiani
Davide Drusiani
MPMatteo Presa
Matteo Presa
MFMohsen Farsad
Mohsen Farsad
Background/Objectives: Differentiating tumour recurrence from treatment-related changes (TRC) after multimodal treatment of high-grade gliomas (HGGs) remains challenging because of the overlap in imaging findings on conventional magnetic resonance. This study compared the diagnostic performance of the main static semiquantitative O-(2-[18F]fluoroethyl)-L-tyrosine positron emission tomography ([18F]FET-PET) parameters and assessed the diagnostic contribution of qualitative tracer uptake. Methods: This retrospective single-centre study included 77 scans from 61 adult patients with previously resected and chemoradiotherapy-treated HGGs undergoing [18F]FET-PET for suspected recurrence. Standardised uptake values (SUVs), tumour-to-background ratios (TBRs), and metabolic tumour volume (MTV) were analysed. Recurrence was determined using a composite histopathological and clinical–radiological reference standard. Diagnostic performance was assessed using receiver operating characteristic analysis, Youden-derived cut-offs and DeLong comparisons. Internal validation was performed by using patient-grouped five-fold cross-validation, in which cut-offs were re-derived within each training partition and applied to the held-out partition. Results: Forty-nine scans were classified as recurrence and 28 as TRC. All semiquantitative parameters except MTV were significantly higher in recurrent disease after false-discovery-rate correction. TBR mean ratio showed the highest accuracy (AUC, 0.80; cut-off, 1.85; sensitivity, 77.6%; specificity, 75.0%), followed by SUV max (AUC, 0.793). Neither prespecified comparison among TBR parameters was significant. The presence of pathological uptake achieved 100% sensitivity, 42.9% specificity, 100% NPV, and 79.2% accuracy. MTV was non-discriminative (AUC, 0.499). SUV max differed significantly between scanners (p = 0.008). Conclusions: Static semiquantitative [18F]FET-PET parameters, except MTV, showed comparable moderate-to-good performance for distinguishing recurrence from TRC. TBRmean may represent a pragmatic primary marker due to its background normalisation reduction of scanner-related variability. Guideline-recommended thresholds should be regarded as reference values requiring local validation and, when appropriate, centre- and protocol-specific calibration.

10 October 2025 in Clinics and Research in Hepatology and Gastroenterology
Verified
Journal Article
Closed access
LMLuca Marzi
Luca Marzi
FMFederica de Marchi
Federica de Marchi
FEFrancesco Erdini
Francesco Erdini
CTChiara Turri
Chiara Turri
MZMonica Zoeschg
Monica Zoeschg
AMAndrea Mega
Andrea Mega