[¹¹C]acetate PET/CT visualizes skeletal muscle exercise participation, impaired function, and recovery after hip
Franz Buchegger1, Osman Ratib, Jean-Pierre Willi
1Service of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. Franz.Buchegger@hcuge.ch
Purpose:
Based on skeletal muscle acetate physiology we aimed studying muscle function after hip arthroplasty with [(11)C]acetate PET.
Procedures:
Two male patients were investigated 3 and 12 weeks after hip arthroplasty with muscle [(11)C]acetate PET/CT performed at rest and exercise. Median muscle SUV(mean) were calculated on three non-consecutive transverse PET slices.
Results:
The four exercise PET/CT showed, compared with rest, consistent increase in [(11)C]acetate uptake in active muscles contralateral to surgery. On the arthroplasty side most muscles showed symmetric activity increase under exercise both at 3 and 12 weeks after surgery, but four muscles showed only minor activity increase at 3 weeks. At 3 months, functional recovery of the latter four muscles was observed.
Conclusion:
Consistent increase in [(11)C]acetate uptake in healthy muscles under exercise compared with rest was observed by PET/CT. Transiently impaired muscle function 3 weeks after surgery recovered at 3 months. These first observations merit further investigation.
