RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Regional variability of atherosclerotic disease in various anatomic segments of aorta as revealed by FDG-PET/CT imaging
JF Journal of Nuclear Medicine
JO J Nucl Med
FD Society of Nuclear Medicine
SP 1677
OP 1677
VO 54
IS supplement 2
A1 Hatami, Masumeh
A1 Salavati, Ali
A1 Saboury, Babak
A1 Werner, Thomas
A1 Delbello, Catherine
A1 Pasha, Ahmed
A1 Cheng, Gang
A1 Akers, Scott
A1 Alavi, Abass
YR 2013
UL http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/54/supplement_2/1677.abstract
AB 1677 Objectives The aim of this study was to demonstrate the regional variability of atherosclerosis quantification in different segments of aorta (infradiaphragmatic vs supradiaphragmatic). Methods Thirty two patients, who underwent PET/CT imaging for lung cancer, were included in this study. Each patient underwent multiple-time-point PET/CT imaging at 1, 2 and 3 hours following the administration of FDG. Atherosclerotic plaque FDG-uptake, quantified as weighted average SUVmean [wA-SUVmean = ∑ (SUVmean x surface area x thickness) / ∑volume], was determined by placing ROIs around the arterial wall from the cardiac origin of the aorta down to the level of the aortic bifurcation. Infradiaphragmatic and supradiaphragmatic atherosclerosis were compared using paired t-test. Results Preliminary data of 32 patients with a mean age of 65 ± 14 showed that wA-SUVmean was higher in infra-diaphragmatic aorta compared to the supra-diaphragmatic aorta at all three time-points; however the difference was significant only in 3 hour time-point images (wA-SUVmean = 1.27, 1.47 in supra- and infradiaphragmatic aorta, respectively, P < 0.001). Conclusions The preliminary data show increased FDG uptake in the infradiaphragmatic aorta compared to the supradiaphragmatic aorta. This effect reaches statistical significance only in PET images acquired 3 hours following the administration of FDG. Two phenomena, the delayed accumulation of FDG in atherosclerotic plaques and the declining levels of FDG in the blood pool, could account for this important observation. These data support the benefit of delayed-time-point imaging in assessing atherosclerotic plaque activity in any setting and its capabilities in the assessment of new treatment. Research Support Supported in part by VISN 4 CPPF grant.