Basic research studyInflammation in the walls of asymptomatic abdominal aortic aneurysms is not associated with increased metabolic activity detectable by 18-fluorodeoxglucose positron-emission tomography
Clinical Relevance
The etiology of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) is mostly unknown. Histologic studies have revealed a chronic inflammation in the media of the aortic wall, and recent studies indicate that this inflammation may be detectable by means of 18F-fluorodeoxglucose (FDG) positron-emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT). However, previous reports have predominantly evaluated symptomatic large AAAs, whereas studies on small asymptomatic AAAs are rare. In this study, we hypothesized that the inflammation observed in the wall of large asymptomatic AAAs could be detected in vivo by FDG-PET/CT and, if so, that this method could be used to study if active inflammation is an early pathogenetic finding in small AAAs.
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This study received funding Swedish Research Council (Grant K2010-65X-20406-04-3) and an Amersham research grant.
Author conflict of interest: none.
The editors and reviewers of this article have no relevant financial relationships to disclose per the JVS policy that requires reviewers to decline review of any manuscript for which they may have a conflict of interest.