Abstract
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Objectives The main objective of this study was to determine whether PET/CT imaging at later time points following administration of FDG allows for optimal visualization of atherosclerotic plaque in the major arteries.
Methods Twenty-one subjects who underwent FDG-PET/CT imaging for preoperative staging assessment of cancer were enrolled. Following administration of FDG, whole body PET/CT images were acquired at 1, 2, and 3 hours. An experienced physician blindly reviewed each study and qualitatively assessed the degree of FDG uptake in the aortic wall using the following rating system: 0 = none, 1 = mild, 2 = moderate, and 3 = severe.
Results Based on this visual analysis, there was significant correlation between visual detection of atherosclerotic plaque and the time interval between FDG administration and PET image acquisition . Except for 1 subject where no gross change was noted among the three time points, all other subjects showed statistically significantly improved visualization of aortic atherosclerosis on delayed time point images (Friedman= 16.22; Kendall’s coefficient=0.9012; P-value=0.0003).
Conclusions These data demonstrate that standard PET/CT acquisition at 60-90 minutes after FDG administration is suboptimal for assessment of atherosclerotic plaque. Therefore, we believe that delayed imaging should be adopted as the procedure of choice when FDG-PET/CT is employed for detection and quantification of atherosclerotic lesions in the aorta and other major arteries
Qualitative Rating: Degree of FDG Uptake in Aorta
The rows are the qualitative scores based on 1, 2, and 3 hour PET images, whereas each column corresponds to each subject
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