title: Supraclavicular Brown Adipose Tissue 18F-FDG Uptake and Cardiovascular Disease.
abstract: Preclinical data suggest a negative correlation between brown adipose tissue (BAT) and the degree of coronary atherosclerosis. We sought to evaluate the relationship between (18)F-FDG uptake in supraclavicular BAT in relation to arterial inflammation and subsequent cardiovascular disease (CVD) events in humans.
  
  
  METHODS
  Individuals who underwent (18)F-FDG PET/CT for clinical indications but who did not have either cancer or known atherosclerotic disease at the time of imaging were included. A radiologist masked to clinical data measured (18)F-FDG uptake within BAT (in the supraclavicular region) as well as in subcutaneous adipose tissues. Tissue density was evaluated using CT (Hounsfield units). Arterial inflammation was assessed by measuring arterial (18)F-FDG uptake and calculating target-to-background ratio. CVD events were independently adjudicated by masked cardiologists. Thereafter, the relationship between BAT activity and CVD events was evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 443 patients (age, 55 y [44-66 y]; 44% men; body mass index [BMI], 26 [range, 23-31]) were included, and 30 patients experienced a cardiovascular event during a median follow-up of 4 y. BAT activity negatively correlated with arterial inflammation (r = -0.178, P < 0.01), a relationship that persisted after correcting for age and BMI (r = -0.147, P < 0.01). When either high sensitivity or high accuracy thresholds (from receiver-operating curve analyses) were used to define elevated BAT, high BAT was associated with a reduced risk of CVD events (P = 0.048), even after correcting for age (P = 0.037).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that increased supraclavicular BAT activity is inversely associated with arterial inflammation, independently of age and BMI. Additionally, increased BAT may be associated with fewer cardiovascular events.
authors.affiliation: Cardiac MR PET CT Program, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Richard A P
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Takx
authors.affiliation: Cardiac MR PET CT Program, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Amorina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ishai
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Weill Cornell College of Medicine, New York, New York; and.
authors.forename: Quynh A
authors.initials: QA
authors.lastname: Truong
authors.affiliation: Cardiac MR PET CT Program, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Meghan H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: MacNabb
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Division, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Marielle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scherrer-Crosbie
authors.affiliation: Cardiac MR PET CT Program, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts Cardiology Division, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts atawakol@partners.org.
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tawakol
mesh_terms: D002001:Adipose Tissue, Brown / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001900:Boston / Q000453:epidemiology; D002968:Clavicle / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D000072078:Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
keywords: arterial FDG uptake; brown adipose tissue; cardiovascular disease; positron-emission tomography