Role of NaF PET-CT in Quantifying Total Body Atherosclerotic Burden In Major Arteries
Year: 2020
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: 1610 Objectives: We aimed to quantify the total body atherosclerotic burden in major arteries of the body assessed by NaF PET/CT in healthy controls and patients at-risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). We hypothesized that at-risk patients will have a higher uptake than healthy controls and, in addition, that it is strongly correlated with age. Methods: 68 healthy controls (42±13.5 years, 35 females, 33 males) and 40 patients at-risk of cardiovascular disease (55±11.9 years, 22 females, 18 males) underwent PET/CT imaging 90 minutes following injection of NaF (2.2Mbq/kg). A uniform and standardized protocol was used for acquisition. CT imaging was conducted to adjust for attenuation correction and anatomic reference. Analysis was performed on axial images using OsiriX MD software, and the following arteries were examined: common carotid artery (CCA), coronary artery (CA), ascending aorta (AS), arch of aorta (AR), descending aorta (DA), abdominal aorta (AA), common iliac artery (CIA), external iliac artery (EIA), femoral artery (FA), popliteal artery (PA). Regions of interest were drawn to accurately define the arteries. Average SUVmean (aSUVmean) was calculated for each arterial segment in controls and patients. Linear regression models were employed for statistical analysis.
Results: The atherosclerotic burden was found to be higher in the at-risk group as compared to healthy controls (13.33 ± 2.82 vs. 12.15 ± 1.75, p=0.03). The correlation of aSUVmean with age in patients was found to be positive (r=0.59, p=<0.001), but was marginally positive in the control group (r=0.22, p=0.06). Moreover, the correlation with age was also found to be positive in all arteries in the at-risk group (Table 1).
Conclusions: NaF-PET/CT demonstrated a consistently higher NaF uptake in the at-risk group as compared to healthy controls, and NaF uptake was strongly associated with age in the patient group. NaF-PET/CT appears to be a useful modality to quantify and assess total-body atherosclerotic burden.
Table 1 Descriptive statistics and linear regression models between SUVmean of vessels and age.
Authors: Rojulpote, Chaitanya, Aly, Mahmoud, Zhang, Vincent, Patil, Shivaraj, Gonuguntla, Karthik, Borja, Austin, Koa, Benjamin, Kaghazchi, Fatemeh, Narayanareddy, Pranathi, Revheim, Mona-Elisabeth, Werner, Thomas, Gerke, Oke; id_orcid 0000-0001-6335-3303, Hoilund-Carlsen, Poul Flemming, Alavi, Abass
Language: English
Subfield: Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3032998479