TY - JOUR
T1 - 18F-FDG uptake in main arterial branches of patients with large vessel vasculitis
T2 - visual and semiquantitative analysis
AU - Castellani, Massimo
AU - Vadrucci, Manuela
AU - Florimonte, Luigia
AU - Caronni, Monica
AU - Benti, Riccardo
AU - Bonara, Paola
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Objective: Over the last decade, the contribution of 18F-FDG (FDG) PET/CT imaging to the diagnosis of large vessel vasculitis has been widely investigated. The aim of this study was to evaluate a more extensive role for PET/CT in grading vascular inflammation in patients with different clinical stages of disease. Methods: The images of 66 PET/CT studies of 34 patients, performed at diagnosis and/or during follow-up were reviewed. FDG uptake in different regions of aorta and in its major branches was visually (regional Score: rS) and semiquantitatively (regional SUVmean: rSUV) assessed. The global vascular uptake was also evaluated for each study by summing all rSs (summed Score; sS) and averaging rSUVs (averaged SUV; aSUV). FDG uptake in 15 PET/CT studies of control age-matched subjects without signs or symptoms of vasculitis was also analyzed. Results: Higher levels of regional and global FDG uptake were found at diagnosis in comparison with follow-up studies of 12 patients with complete longitudinal observation (p value range 0.0552–0.0026). In the latter group high values were generally observed when disease relapse or incomplete response to therapy (active disease) occurred, whereas lower uptake was found in studies of remitted patients (p = 18F-FDG PET/CT has a promising role in grading inflammation in patients with large arteries vasculitis. Nevertheless, a cut-off based analysis of FDG vascular uptake is not sufficient to separate patients with active and inactive disease during follow-up.
AB - Objective: Over the last decade, the contribution of 18F-FDG (FDG) PET/CT imaging to the diagnosis of large vessel vasculitis has been widely investigated. The aim of this study was to evaluate a more extensive role for PET/CT in grading vascular inflammation in patients with different clinical stages of disease. Methods: The images of 66 PET/CT studies of 34 patients, performed at diagnosis and/or during follow-up were reviewed. FDG uptake in different regions of aorta and in its major branches was visually (regional Score: rS) and semiquantitatively (regional SUVmean: rSUV) assessed. The global vascular uptake was also evaluated for each study by summing all rSs (summed Score; sS) and averaging rSUVs (averaged SUV; aSUV). FDG uptake in 15 PET/CT studies of control age-matched subjects without signs or symptoms of vasculitis was also analyzed. Results: Higher levels of regional and global FDG uptake were found at diagnosis in comparison with follow-up studies of 12 patients with complete longitudinal observation (p value range 0.0552–0.0026). In the latter group high values were generally observed when disease relapse or incomplete response to therapy (active disease) occurred, whereas lower uptake was found in studies of remitted patients (p = 18F-FDG PET/CT has a promising role in grading inflammation in patients with large arteries vasculitis. Nevertheless, a cut-off based analysis of FDG vascular uptake is not sufficient to separate patients with active and inactive disease during follow-up.
KW - Inflammation
KW - Large vessel vasculitis
KW - PET/CT
KW - SUV analysis
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U2 - 10.1007/s12149-016-1075-x
DO - 10.1007/s12149-016-1075-x
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84962910827
SN - 0914-7187
VL - 30
SP - 409
EP - 420
JO - Annals of Nuclear Medicine
JF - Annals of Nuclear Medicine
IS - 6
ER -