Imaging of early inflammation in low-to-moderate carotid stenosis by 18-FDG-PET.
It is not clear if 18FDG-PET can be useful for detection of inflammation in low to moderate carotid stenosis. We studied 15 patients scheduled for endarterectomy with contralateral carotids with less than 50% stenosis. 18-FDG-PET was performed prior to CEA and 3 months following surgery. FDG-uptake values were calculated based on maximum standardized uptake value (SUV) and corresponding uptake ratios. We confirmed by CD68 macrophage staining that FDG accumulation corresponds to active inflammation (R=0.8 p less than 0.005). We found significant correlation between the FDG-uptake in the carotids scheduled for CEA and contralateral carotids with low to moderate stenosis (R=0.9 p less than 0.001). The FDG uptake ratio in the contralateral arteries remained stable on the follow-up imaging (1.15+/-0.2 vs. 1.14+/-0.1, R=0.7 p=0.006). We did not find correlation between FDG uptake and symptomatic or asymptomatic patients, degree of carotid stenosis and vascular risk factors. This is a prospective, preliminary in vivo study demonstrating that low to moderate carotid atherosclerosis can be detected using 18-FDG-PET imaging and highlights the truly systemic nature of atherosclerosis.
Font
M Angels M Angels
MA
Department of Neurology, University Hospital of Bellvitge (HUB), Fundacio Idibell, Barcelona, Spain.
Fernandez
Alex
A
Carvajal
Ana
A
Gamez
Cristina
C
Badimon
Lina
L
Slevin
Mark
M
Krupinski
Jerzy
J
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016893:Carotid Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18