Uptake of F-18 FDG and ultrasound analysis of carotid plaque

• Published in: Journal of nuclear cardiology Vol. 18; no. 2; pp. 267 - 272
• Main Authors: Choi, Yun-Seok, Youn, Ho-Joong, Chung, Woo-Baek, Hwang, Hui-Jeong, Lee, Dong-Hyeon, Park, Chul-Soo, Lee, Jae-Beom, Kim, Pum-Joon, Chung, Wook-Sung, Lee, Man-Young, Seung, Kie-Bae, Chung, Yong-Ahn
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer-Verlag 01-04-2011; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aged; C-Reactive Protein - analysis; Cardiology; Carotid Artery Diseases - diagnosis; Carotid Artery Diseases - diagnostic imaging; Cholesterol, HDL - blood; Female; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; Humans; Imaging; Inflammation; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Nuclear Medicine; Original Article; Positron-Emission Tomography - methods; Radiology; Radiopharmaceuticals; Ultrasonography; Positron-emission tomography; cardiovascular disease; inflammation
• ISSN: 1071-3581; 1532-6551
• DOI: 10.1007/s12350-011-9338-3

Objectives
To elucidate the relation between the echolucent plaque on carotid ultrasound and acute inflammation on F-18 FDG carotid PET/CT.
Methods
Thirty nine patients (M:F ratio = 23:16, mean age = 63 ± 11 years) that underwent coronary angiography and carotid ultrasound were divided into three groups—echolucent plaque (n = 22), calcified (n = 10), and no plaque(n = 7). All the patients underwent F-18 FDG carotid PET/CT. The mean standardized uptake values (SUV), namely target to background ratio (TBR) on 180 minutes delayed F-18 FDG carotid PET/CT images were compared with levels of serum inflammatory markers and lipid profiles, and in terms of the presence of carotid plaque on carotid US.
Results
180 minutes TBR of carotid arterial wall at echolucent plaque, calcified plaque, and no plaque were 1.40 ± 0.05, 1.23 ± 0.03, 1.17 ± 0.03 in both carotid artery. TBR of carotid arterial walls for echolucent plaque were significantly larger than TBR for calcified, and no plaque respectively at the both side of carotid artery (
P
 < .05). Serum HDL levels were found to be inversely correlated with F-18 FDG uptake at both carotid arteries (
r
 = −0.43,
P
 = .005) on 180 minutes delayed phase images. Also serum hs-CRP levels were found to be correlated with F-18 FDG TBR values of right carotid arteries (
r
 = 0.41,
P
 = .04).
Conclusions
Our results show that F-18 FDG carotid PET/CT can depict metabolically active atherosclerotic plaques, and suggest that F-18 FDG carotid PET/CT can be used as a noninvasive imaging modality for functional evaluation of atherosclerosis.