title: [Evaluation of carotid artery plaque stability with ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT and contrast-enhanced ultrasonography].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the value of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) and fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography (¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT) in evaluating the stability of carotid atherosclerosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventeen patients with 21 carotid artery plaques received examinations with CEUS. According to the nature of the plaques, the patients were divided into soft and mixed plaque group and hard and calcified plaque group. The maximal enhancement intensity of the plaques (I(MAX)) and maximal plaque density (D(MAX)) were measured to quantify the neovasculature. The patients also underwent concurrent ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT, and ¹⁸F-FDG uptake was quantified by the mean standard uptake values (SUV(mean)), an index reflecting the inflammatory activity in the plaque. The findings in CEUS and PET/CT were comparatively analyzed for these cases.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The D(MAX) of the plaque in soft and mixed plaque group was significantly greater than that in hard and calcified plaque group (4.26±3.65 vs 1.41±1.47, P<0.05); the I(MAX) was also greater in the former group, but this difference was not statistically significant (26.83±19.61 vs 24.73±29.85, P=0.869). The soft and mixed plaques tended to have higher SUVmean than the hard and calcified plaques (1.70±0.45 vs 1.47±0.12, P=0.099). The values of I(MAX) and D(MAX) were not found to correlate to SUV(mean) in these patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CEUS can sensitively show the status of neovascularization within the carotid atherosclerosis plaques, and PET/CT reflects the inflammatory activity in the plaques. The combination of these two imaging modalities allows the evaluation of plaque stability in terms of neoangiogenesis and inflammatory activity.
authors: Department of Cardiology, General Hospital of PLA, Beijing 100853, China. lijuan5550@sina.com.cn
authors: Juan
authors: J
authors: Li
authors: Hongbin
authors: H
authors: Liu
authors: Guang
authors: G
authors: Zhi
authors: Dayi
authors: D
authors: Yin
authors: Jing
authors: J
authors: Wang
authors: Jingjing
authors: J
authors: Gai
authors: Leixing
authors: L
authors: Xie
authors: Jiajin
authors: J
authors: Liu
authors: Xiongwei
authors: X
authors: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016893:Carotid Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18