title: Assessment of atherosclerotic plaque calcification using F18-NaF PET-CT.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the uptake of F18-NaF by the arterial wall in patients with high cardiovascular (CV) risk profile. The tracer uptake was assessed in relation to gender and the number of CV risk factors.
  
  
  
  25 patients without known CV disease were included and evaluated by PET-CT with F18-NaF: 14 (56%) men and 11 (44%) women. The mean target-to-background ratio (TBR: max SUV/mean blood-pool SUV) but not the corrected uptake per lesion (CUL: max SUV - mean blood-pool SUV) was higher in men than women (TBR: 1.8 ± 0.6 vs 1.7 ± 0.2; P = 0.04; CUL: 0.7 ± 0.3 vs W 0.6 ± 0.1; P = 0.4). Patients with >3 CV risk factors had higher CUL (0.8 ± 0.1 vs 0.6 ± 0.2; P = 0.01) but not TBR (1.8 ± 0.2 vs 1.7 ± 0.6; P = 0.7) than patients with <3 risk factors.
  
  
  
  The TBR but not CUL is higher in men than women while the CUL but not TBR is related to the number of CV risk factors. These results are hypothesis-generating and require validation in larger studies.
authors.affiliation: ICNAS (Instituto de Ciências Nucleares Aplicadas à Saúde), Coimbra, Portugal. mjvidigal@netc.pt.|Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal. mjvidigal@netc.pt.|Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra (Serviço de Cardiologia - pólo HUC), Coimbra, Portugal. mjvidigal@netc.pt.
authors.forename: Maria João Vidigal
authors.initials: MJV
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra (Serviço de Cardiologia - pólo HUC), Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oliveira-Santos
authors.affiliation: ICNAS (Instituto de Ciências Nucleares Aplicadas à Saúde), Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Rodolfo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: ICNAS (Instituto de Ciências Nucleares Aplicadas à Saúde), Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Andreia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.affiliation: ICNAS (Instituto de Ciências Nucleares Aplicadas à Saúde), Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Nuno
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: ICNAS (Instituto de Ciências Nucleares Aplicadas à Saúde), Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Antero
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abrunhosa
authors.affiliation: ICNAS (Instituto de Ciências Nucleares Aplicadas à Saúde), Coimbra, Portugal.|Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: João
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.affiliation: Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra (Serviço de Cardiologia - pólo HUC), Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Mariano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pego
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Lino
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.affiliation: ICNAS (Instituto de Ciências Nucleares Aplicadas à Saúde), Coimbra, Portugal.|Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Castelo-Branco
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058226:Plaque, Atherosclerotic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D000072078:Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D012969:Sodium Fluoride / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D061205:Vascular Calcification / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*
chemical_list: D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012969:Sodium Fluoride; C000615276:Fluorine-18
keywords: PET/CT imaging; cardiovascular risk; gender; quantification; sodium fluoride