Correlation between thoracic aorta 18F-natrium fluoride uptake and cardiovascular risk

Area of Science:

• Nuclear medicine imaging
• Cardiovascular disease research
• Radiopharmaceutical applications

Background:

• Cardiovascular risk factors contribute to arterial calcification.
• 18F-Natrium-Fluoride (18F-NaF) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) can visualize active calcification.
• Assessing thoracic aorta calcification is crucial for cardiovascular risk stratification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between thoracic and cardiac 18F-NaF uptake and cardiovascular risk factors.
• To determine the efficacy of 18F-NaF uptake as a marker for ongoing calcification.
• To evaluate the diagnostic performance of different thoracic aorta segments for cardiovascular risk assessment.

Main Methods:

• Seventy-eight patients underwent whole-body 18F-NaF PET/CT.
• Patients were categorized into low, medium, and high cardiovascular risk (CVR) groups.
• 18F-NaF uptake was measured as target-to-background ratio (TBR) in the ascending aorta, aortic arch, descending aorta, and myocardium.

Main Results:

• Significant differences in whole thoracic aorta TBR were found between high-risk and low-risk groups (P < 0.001).
• Descending aorta TBR showed the strongest correlation with CVR (R = 0.75).
• Myocardial 18F-NaF uptake effectively stratified CVR classes (P < 0.001).

Conclusions:

• Thoracic aorta 18F-NaF uptake effectively depicts patient cardiovascular risk class.
• The descending aorta is the most effective segment for determining cardiovascular risk.
• 18F-NaF PET/CT is a valuable tool for assessing cardiovascular risk through calcification imaging.