title: Correlation between thoracic aorta 18F-natrium fluoride uptake and cardiovascular risk.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigating the relationship between thoracic and cardiac (18)F-Natrium-Fluoride (18F-NaF) uptake, as a marker of ongoing calcification and cardiovascular risk factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-eight patients (44 females, mean age 63, range 44-83) underwent whole body 18F-NaF positron emission tomography/computed tomography. Cardiovascular risk (CVR) was used to divide these patients in three categories: Low (LR), medium (MR) and high risk (HR). 18F-NaF uptake was measured by manually drawing volumes of interest on the ascending aorta, on the aortic arch, on the descending aorta and on the myocardium; average standardized uptake value was normalized for blood-pool, to obtain target-to-background ratio (TBR). Values from the three aortic segments were then averaged to obtain an index of the whole thoracic aorta.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A significant difference in whole thoracic aorta TBR was detected between HR and LR (1.84 ± 0.76 vs 1.07 ± 0.3, P < 0.001), but also between MR and HR-LR (1.4 ± 0.4, P < 0.02 and P < 0.01, respectively). Significance of this TBR stratification strongly varied among thoracic aorta subsegments and the lowest P values were reached in the descending aorta (P < 0.01). Myocardial uptake provided an effective CVR classes stratification (P < 0.001).Correlation between TBR and CVR was appreciable when the whole thoracic aorta was considered (R = 0.67), but it peaked when correlating the descending thoracic segment (R = 0.75), in comparison with the aortic arch and the ascending segment (R = 0.55 and 0.53, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fluoride uptake within the thoracic aorta wall effectively depicts patients' risk class and correlates with cardiovascular risk. Descending aorta is the most effective in CVR determination.
authors.affiliation: Francesco Fiz, Silvia Morbelli, Matteo Bauckneht, Giulia Ferrarazzo, Alberto Nieri, Gianmario Sambuceti, Nuclear Medicine, Department of Health Science, University of Genoa and IRCCS San Martino-IST, 16132 Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fiz
authors.affiliation: Francesco Fiz, Silvia Morbelli, Matteo Bauckneht, Giulia Ferrarazzo, Alberto Nieri, Gianmario Sambuceti, Nuclear Medicine, Department of Health Science, University of Genoa and IRCCS San Martino-IST, 16132 Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morbelli
authors.affiliation: Francesco Fiz, Silvia Morbelli, Matteo Bauckneht, Giulia Ferrarazzo, Alberto Nieri, Gianmario Sambuceti, Nuclear Medicine, Department of Health Science, University of Genoa and IRCCS San Martino-IST, 16132 Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bauckneht
authors.affiliation: Francesco Fiz, Silvia Morbelli, Matteo Bauckneht, Giulia Ferrarazzo, Alberto Nieri, Gianmario Sambuceti, Nuclear Medicine, Department of Health Science, University of Genoa and IRCCS San Martino-IST, 16132 Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Arnoldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Piccardo
authors.affiliation: Francesco Fiz, Silvia Morbelli, Matteo Bauckneht, Giulia Ferrarazzo, Alberto Nieri, Gianmario Sambuceti, Nuclear Medicine, Department of Health Science, University of Genoa and IRCCS San Martino-IST, 16132 Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ferrarazzo
authors.affiliation: Francesco Fiz, Silvia Morbelli, Matteo Bauckneht, Giulia Ferrarazzo, Alberto Nieri, Gianmario Sambuceti, Nuclear Medicine, Department of Health Science, University of Genoa and IRCCS San Martino-IST, 16132 Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nieri
authors.affiliation: Francesco Fiz, Silvia Morbelli, Matteo Bauckneht, Giulia Ferrarazzo, Alberto Nieri, Gianmario Sambuceti, Nuclear Medicine, Department of Health Science, University of Genoa and IRCCS San Martino-IST, 16132 Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Nathan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Artom
authors.affiliation: Francesco Fiz, Silvia Morbelli, Matteo Bauckneht, Giulia Ferrarazzo, Alberto Nieri, Gianmario Sambuceti, Nuclear Medicine, Department of Health Science, University of Genoa and IRCCS San Martino-IST, 16132 Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Manlio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cabria
authors.affiliation: Francesco Fiz, Silvia Morbelli, Matteo Bauckneht, Giulia Ferrarazzo, Alberto Nieri, Gianmario Sambuceti, Nuclear Medicine, Department of Health Science, University of Genoa and IRCCS San Martino-IST, 16132 Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Marini
authors.affiliation: Francesco Fiz, Silvia Morbelli, Matteo Bauckneht, Giulia Ferrarazzo, Alberto Nieri, Gianmario Sambuceti, Nuclear Medicine, Department of Health Science, University of Genoa and IRCCS San Martino-IST, 16132 Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Canepa
authors.affiliation: Francesco Fiz, Silvia Morbelli, Matteo Bauckneht, Giulia Ferrarazzo, Alberto Nieri, Gianmario Sambuceti, Nuclear Medicine, Department of Health Science, University of Genoa and IRCCS San Martino-IST, 16132 Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianmario
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sambuceti
keywords: 18F-Natrium fluoride; Cardiovascular risk profile; Plaque imaging; Positron emission tomography/computed tomography; Thoracic aorta
references.citation: J Biomech Eng. 2002 Aug;124(4):378-87
references.pmid: 12188204
references.citation: Endocr Rev. 2004 Aug;25(4):629-72
references.pmid: 15294885
references.citation: Thromb Haemost. 2013 Oct;110(4):706-22
references.pmid: 23803753
references.citation: Nat Commun. 2015 Jul 07;6:7495
references.pmid: 26151378
references.citation: J Nucl Med. 2011 Mar;52(3):362-8
references.pmid: 21321276
references.citation: Biomed Rep. 2015 Jul;3(4):447-452
references.pmid: 26171146
references.citation: J Nucl Med. 2015 Jul;56(7):1019-23
references.pmid: 25952737
references.citation: Int J Cardiovasc Imaging. 2014 Feb;30(2):439-47
references.pmid: 24318613
references.citation: J Nucl Med. 2010 Jun;51(6):862-5
references.pmid: 20484438
references.citation: PLoS One. 2014 Oct 10;9(10 ):e109584
references.pmid: 25302677
references.citation: J Cardiovasc Comput Tomogr. 2015 Sep-Oct;9(5):406-14
references.pmid: 26043963
references.citation: Hell J Nucl Med. 2011 May-Aug;14 (2):114-20
references.pmid: 21761011
references.citation: Lancet. 2014 Feb 22;383(9918):705-13
references.pmid: 24224999
references.citation: Atherosclerosis. 2015 Feb;238(2):220-30
references.pmid: 25528431
references.citation: JACC Cardiovasc Imaging. 2010 Apr;3(4):388-97
references.pmid: 20394901
references.citation: Atherosclerosis. 2015 Jan;238(1):4-8
references.pmid: 25461732
references.citation: Circulation. 2009 Jun 23;119(24):3078-84
references.pmid: 19506114
references.citation: J Am Coll Cardiol. 2010 Dec 14;56(25):e50-103
references.pmid: 21144964
references.citation: Eur Heart J. 2013 Apr;34(14):1075-82
references.pmid: 23303659
references.citation: Prog Cardiovasc Dis. 2015 May-Jun;57(6):566-78
references.pmid: 25721706
references.citation: J Am Coll Cardiol. 2006 Nov 7;48(9):1825-31
references.pmid: 17084257
references.citation: Am J Cardiol. 1976 Jul;38(1):46-51
references.pmid: 132862
references.citation: Kidney Blood Press Res. 2013;38(2-3):196-204
references.pmid: 24732137
references.citation: Vasa. 2015 Mar;44(2):106-14
references.pmid: 25698388
references.citation: J Am Coll Cardiol. 2012 Apr 24;59(17 ):1549-50
references.pmid: 22516445
references.citation: J Am Coll Cardiol. 2012 Apr 24;59(17 ):1539-48
references.pmid: 22516444
references.citation: Coron Artery Dis. 2012 May;23 (3):195-200
references.pmid: 22327064