title: Detection of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque and prediction of thrombosis events in a rabbit model using 18F-FDG -PET/CT.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Detection of vulnerable plaques could be clinically significant in the prevention of cardiovascular events. We aimed to compare Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) uptake in vulnerable and stable plaques, and investigate the feasibility of predicting thrombosis events using Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (PET/CT) angiography.
  
  
  METHODS
  Atherosclerosis was induced in 23 male New Zealand white rabbits. The rabbits underwent pharmacological triggering to induce thrombosis. A pre-triggered PET/CTA scan and a post-triggered PET/CTA scan were respectively performed. (18)F-FDG uptake by the aorta was expressed as maximal standardized uptake value (SUVmax) and mean SUV (SUVmean). SUVs were measured on serial 7.5 mm arterial segments.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thrombosis was identified in 15 of 23 rabbits. The pre-triggered SUVmean and SUVmax were 0.768 ± 0.111 and 0.804 ± 0.120, respectively, in the arterial segments with stable plaque, and 1.097 ± 0.189 and 1.229 ± 0.290, respectively, in the arterial segments with vulnerable plaque (P<0.001, respectively). The post-triggered SUVmean and SUVmax were 0.849 ± 0.167 and 0.906 ± 0.191, respectively in the arterial segments without thrombosis, and 1.152 ± 0.258 and 1.294 ± 0.313, respectively in the arterial segments with thrombosis (P<0.001, respectively). The values of SUVmean in the pre-triggered arterial segments were used to plot a receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) for predicting thrombosis events. Area under the curve (AUC) was 0.898. Maximal sensitivity and specificity (75.4% and 88.5%, respectively) were obtained when SUVmean was 0.882.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Vulnerable and stable plaques can be distinguished by quantitative analysis of (18)F-FDG uptake in the arterial segments in this rabbit model. PET/CT may be used for predicting thrombosis events and risk-stratification in patients with atherosclerotic disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Quan-ming
authors.initials: QM
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Ting-ting
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Ming-duo
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xu-cui
authors.initials: XC
authors.lastname: Zhuang
authors.forename: Xue-cheng
authors.initials: XC
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Li-qin
authors.initials: LQ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: De-peng
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001011:Aorta / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D001027:Aortography; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D008297:Male; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D058226:Plaque, Atherosclerotic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D012372:ROC Curve; D011817:Rabbits; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18