Department of Cardiology, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
PLoS One. 2013 Apr 17;8(4):e61140. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0061140. Print 2013.
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.
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.
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.
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.
易损斑块的检测在预防心血管事件方面可能具有重要的临床意义。我们旨在比较氟-18 氟脱氧葡萄糖（18F-FDG）在易损斑块和稳定斑块中的摄取，并探讨使用正电子发射断层扫描/计算机断层扫描（PET/CT）血管造影术预测血栓形成事件的可行性。
在 23 只雄性新西兰白兔中诱导动脉粥样硬化。兔子接受药物触发以诱导血栓形成。分别进行了预先触发的 PET/CTA 扫描和随后触发的 PET/CTA 扫描。主动脉的 18F-FDG 摄取用最大标准化摄取值（SUVmax）和平均 SUV（SUVmean）表示。SUV 是在连续的 7.5mm 动脉节段上测量的。
23 只兔子中有 15 只发生了血栓形成。在有稳定斑块的动脉节段中，预先触发的 SUVmean 和 SUVmax 分别为 0.768 ± 0.111 和 0.804 ± 0.120，而在有易损斑块的动脉节段中，分别为 1.097 ± 0.189 和 1.229 ± 0.290（分别为 P<0.001）。在无血栓形成的动脉节段中，随后触发的 SUVmean 和 SUVmax 分别为 0.849 ± 0.167 和 0.906 ± 0.191，而在有血栓形成的动脉节段中，分别为 1.152 ± 0.258 和 1.294 ± 0.313（分别为 P<0.001）。在预先触发的动脉节段中，SUVmean 的值用于绘制预测血栓形成事件的受试者工作特征曲线（ROC）。曲线下面积（AUC）为 0.898。当 SUVmean 为 0.882 时，最大敏感性和特异性（分别为 75.4%和 88.5%）。
在该兔模型中，通过对动脉节段中 18F-FDG 摄取的定量分析，可以区分易损斑块和稳定斑块。PET/CT 可用于预测动脉粥样硬化患者的血栓形成事件和风险分层。
