FDG-PET/CT analysis Two experienced nuclear medicine physicians, blinded to clinical, bacteriological and histopathological findings, interpreted FDG-PET/CT images. They followed a predefined reading frame, looking first at 9 lymph node sites (cervical, axillary, mediastinal, hilar, retroperitoneal, portal-hepatic, mesenteric, iliac, inguinal) then at other FDG uptake including organ. A site was designated as abnormal if FDG activity was increased relative to that of adjacent normal soft-tissue. The number of abnormal sites (lymph node sites and organs) was counted. Qualitative assessment was made by Visual score for each site: score 1 was defined as less than 5 visible active lymph nodes, score 2 as 5 to 10 visible active lymph nodes and score 3 as too much lymph nodes to count, or massive confluence of lymph nodes at a site. The 3 greatest lymph node sites per patient in terms of visual score were described in detail in our analysis.