title: Assessment of inactive, active and mixed atherosclerotic plaques by 18F-FDG-PET; an age group-based correlation with cardiovascular risk factors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to assess the atherosclerotic plaques in a large asymptomatic population stratified based on age and sex.
  
  
  METHODS
  [18F]-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG)-PET/CT of 100 men and 100 women, divided in four age groups were examined to assess FDG-accumulating active, calcified inactive and mixed atherosclerotic plaques in eight defined vessel segments.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a high correlation between the total number of cardiovascular risk factors and the number of FDG-accumulating active plaques as well as the number of calcified inactive plaques. There was a significant difference in the number of plaques between all age-groups except for active plaques in age groups 60-70 and 80-90 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a correlation between the number of cardiovascular risk factors and the number of FDG-accumulating atherosclerotic lesions in this patient material. Statin-treatment was associated with significantly lower numbers of active plaques.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, The Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. johan.wasselius@karolinska.se
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wassélius
authors.forename: Stig
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Larsson
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sundin
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jacobsson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D011857:Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012307:Risk Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
references.citation: Am J Cardiol. 2006 Dec 18;98(12A):3Q-9Q
references.pmid: 17169627
references.citation: Circulation. 1996 Oct 15;94(8):2013-20
references.pmid: 8873680
references.citation: J Nucl Med. 2007 Nov;48(11):1800-15
references.pmid: 17942804
references.citation: Circulation. 1996 Nov 15;94(10):2662-6
references.pmid: 8921814
references.citation: J Nucl Med. 2005 Aug;46(8):1278-84
references.pmid: 16085583
references.citation: Rheumatology (Oxford). 2007 Apr;46(4):672-7
references.pmid: 17114803
references.citation: Stroke. 2006 Sep;37(9):2266-70
references.pmid: 16917091
references.citation: Nucl Med Commun. 2001 Jul;22(7):747-53
references.pmid: 11453046
references.citation: J Am Coll Cardiol. 2006 Nov 7;48(9):1818-24
references.pmid: 17084256
references.citation: Nat Med. 2007 May;13(5):636-41
references.pmid: 17417649
references.citation: J Nucl Med. 2004 Jul;45(7):1245-50
references.pmid: 15235073
references.citation: J Am Coll Cardiol. 2006 Nov 7;48(9):1825-31
references.pmid: 17084257
references.citation: Neth J Med. 2003 Oct;61(10):323-9
references.pmid: 14708910
references.citation: Nature. 2002 Dec 19-26;420(6917):868-74
references.pmid: 12490960
references.citation: Circulation. 2002 Jun 11;105(23):2708-11
references.pmid: 12057982
references.citation: J Nucl Med. 2004 Nov;45(11):1816-21
references.pmid: 15534049
references.citation: Stroke. 2005 Dec;36(12):2642-7
references.pmid: 16282536
references.citation: Atherosclerosis. 2007 Oct;194(2):e34-42
references.pmid: 16978632