Pasha Ahmed K, Moghbel Mateen, Saboury Babak, Gharavi Mohammed H, Blomberg Björn A, Torigian Drew A, Kwee Thomas C, Basu Sandip, Mohler Iii Emile R, Alavi Abass
Department of Radiology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 3400 Spruce Street, PA 19104, USA.
Hell J Nucl Med. 2015 Jan-Apr;18(1):5-10. doi: 10.1967/s002449910161. Epub 2015 Feb 13.
To quantify fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) uptake in the aorta and peripheral arteries and assess the variation of (18)F-FDG uptake with age and cardiovascular risk factors.
The subject population of this retrospective study comprises melanoma patients who underwent whole-body (18)F-FDG PET/CT scans. The patients' medical records were examined for cardiovascular risk factors and for a history of coronary artery disease or peripheral artery disease. Fluorine-18-FDG uptake in the peripheral arteries (iliac and femoral) and aorta was semi-quantified as a weighted-average mean standardized uptake value (wA-SUVmean), while background noise was accounted for by measuring mean venous blood pool SUV (V-SUVmean) in the superior vena cava. Atherosclerosis was semi-quantified by the tissue-to-background ratio (TBR) (wA-SUVmean divided by V-SUVmean). A regression model and t-test were used to evaluate the effect of age and location on the degree of atherosclerosis. To assess the effect of cardiovascular risk factors on atherosclerotic burden, the wA-SUVmean of patients with at least one of these risk factors was compared to that of patients without any risk factors.
A total of 76 patients (46 men, 30 women; 22-91 years old) were included in this study. The average TBR of the aorta and peripheral arteries were 2.68 and 1.43, respectively, and increased with age in both locations. In regression analysis, the beta coefficients of age for TBR in the aorta and peripheral arteries were 0.55 (P<0.001) and 0.03 (P<0.001), respectively. In all age groups, the TBR of the aorta was significantly greater than that of the peripheral arteries. The Pearson correlation coefficients between the four age groups and the TBR of the aorta and peripheral arteries were 0.83 (P<0.001) and 0.75 (P<0.001), respectively. The wA-SUVmean of patients with cardiovascular risk factors was only significant (P<0.05) in the aorta.
An increase in (18)F-FDG uptake was observed in the peripheral arteries and aorta with increasing age. Cardiovascular risk factors were significantly correlated with (18)F-FDG uptake in aorta. The early detection of atherosclerosis with (18)F-FDG PET may allow for the initiation of preventative interventions prior to the manifestation of significant structural abnormalities or symptoms of disease.
量化主动脉和外周动脉中氟-18氟脱氧葡萄糖（¹⁸F-FDG）的摄取情况，并评估¹⁸F-FDG摄取随年龄和心血管危险因素的变化。
这项回顾性研究的受试者群体包括接受全身¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT扫描的黑色素瘤患者。检查患者的病历以了解心血管危险因素以及冠状动脉疾病或外周动脉疾病史。外周动脉（髂动脉和股动脉）和主动脉中氟-18-FDG的摄取通过加权平均标准化摄取值（wA-SUVmean）进行半定量，而背景噪声通过测量上腔静脉中的平均静脉血池SUV（V-SUVmean）来计算。动脉粥样硬化通过组织与背景比值（TBR）（wA-SUVmean除以V-SUVmean）进行半定量。使用回归模型和t检验来评估年龄和部位对动脉粥样硬化程度的影响。为了评估心血管危险因素对动脉粥样硬化负担的影响，将具有至少一种这些危险因素的患者的wA-SUVmean与没有任何危险因素的患者的wA-SUVmean进行比较。
本研究共纳入76例患者（46例男性，30例女性；年龄22 - 91岁）。主动脉和外周动脉的平均TBR分别为2.68和1.43，且在两个部位均随年龄增加。在回归分析中，主动脉和外周动脉TBR的年龄β系数分别为0.55（P<0.001）和0.03（P<0.001）。在所有年龄组中，主动脉的TBR显著高于外周动脉。四个年龄组与主动脉和外周动脉TBR之间的Pearson相关系数分别为0.83（P<0.001）和0.75（P<0.001）。具有心血管危险因素的患者的wA-SUVmean仅在主动脉中具有统计学意义（P<０.05）。
随着年龄增长，在外周动脉和主动脉中观察到¹⁸F-FDG摄取增加。心血管危险因素与主动脉中¹⁸F-FDG摄取显著相关。使用¹⁸F-FDG PET早期检测动脉粥样硬化可能有助于在出现明显结构异常或疾病症状之前启动预防性干预措施。
