The Deauville score (also known as the 5-point scale) is a purely visual method of standardizing the interpretation of post-treatment positron emission tomography (PET) scans for primary nodal lymphoma allowing for the comparison of scans performed using different machines at different centers. The Deauville score uses a patient's fludeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake in the mediastinal blood pool and liver as an internal control. FDG uptake is always present in these two sites, with higher levels consistently seen in the liver. The Deauville score interprets FDG avidity of suspected disease (most intense uptake in a site of initial disease) in relation to FDG uptake in these two locations.
NOTE: If mediastinal blood pool activity is equal to or greater than activity in the liver, then the uptake within the lesion should be compared with that in the liver (uptake lesion < liver score 2; lesion = liver score 3).
Reprinted by permission from: Springer: European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. Barrington SF, Qian W, Somer EJ, et al. Concordance between four European centres of PET reporting criteria designed for use in multicentre trials in Hodgkin lymphoma. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 2010; 37:1824. Copyright © 2010.
https://link.springer.com/journal/259.
