Assessment of the correlation between arterial lumen density and its metabolic activity in atherosclerotic patients using < sup > 18 < /sup > F-FDG positron emission tomography/computed tomography

Am J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2023 Feb 15;13(1):18-25. eCollection 2023.ABSTRACTLarge lipid core (extended into arterial lumen) and high density of macrophages (associated with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose "18F-FDG" uptake) in atherosclerotic plaque were shown to be an overt feature of plaque rupture. Nineteen participants were imaged with computed tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography (PET) with 18F-FDG in a dynamic mode. The mean lumen density in Hounsfield unit (HU) was measured per region of interest (ROI) on CT images and classified as non-calcified and calcified classifications. Calcified group was divided into partially calcified and calcified groups. Metabolic rate of glucose (MRG) was computed per ROI on PET dynamic images using modified 2-tissue compartmental model that is independent of partial volume effect. Data is clustered using Automatic Hierarchical K-means algorithm (AKH) with silhouette-coefficient. Arterial segments of 1180 ROIs for Aorta and iliac arteries were classified as non-calcified and calcified segments and clustered using AHK with respect to the mean of intravascular attenuation (in HU). There was a statistical difference in MRG corresponded to low intravascular attenuation cluster compared to higher intravascular attenuation clusters (P<0.05), but not within higher clusters (P>0.05), for both non-calcified and calcified classes. In partially calcified segments, same pattern was observed as the low intravascular attenuation cluster was ac...
Source: Molecular Medicine - Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Source Type: research