Using FDG and NaF PET/CT Imaging to Investigate the Relationship between Inflammation and Microcalcification in the Aorta

摘要

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been the leading global cause of death for the last 15 years. In 2016,CVD-and resulting sudden and severe medical emergencies-accounted for 15.2 million deaths globally (1). EarlyCVD pathophysiology is characterized by both inflammation and microcalcification of vasculature. Currently, detectionand observation of the disease at this stage are difficult. Additionally, the cause-effect relationships among symptomsremain unknown (2, 3, 4, 5). Nevertheless, inflammation and calcification have independently been connected to CVDrisk (1, 6). Moreover, studies have shown that calcification specifically in the aorta is associated with an increased risk ofdeath from CVD (7). For these reasons, this study aims to establish a method to examine and quantify the relationshipbetween inflammation and plaque microcalcification in the descending thoracic aorta, and develop a strategy to betterdetect these CVD risk factors.PET/CT imaging with 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) and 18-Sodium Fluoride (NaF) radiotracerswere used to detect plaque inflammation and vascular microcalcification, respectively. The thoracic aorta was thenmanually segmented on PMOD, and inflammation/microcalcification in each participant's aorta were quantified bycalculating the mean standard uptake value (SUV) for both radiotracers. The relationship between inflammation andmicrocalcification, as well as how both contribute to CVD, were analyzed by comparing SUVs for control participantsand patients.It was found that participants with CVD have significantly more inflammation and microcalcification in thisarea than that among controls and that aortic inflammation and microcalcification are positively correlated with eachother and with age.